Sberbank, the largest lender in Russia, has received approval from the country's central bank to trade cryptocurrencies. Cointelegraph reported the approval on Oct 13, 2026. The bank plans to launch the service in December.
The report lists three assets: Bitcoin, Ether and Tether's USDt. It describes the approval as a crypto exchange authorization for the bank.
The report leaves several things out. It gives no exact launch date in December, no information on who will be able to use the service, and no fee schedule. It also does not say whether Sberbank will offer derivatives of any kind.
For anyone already holding a perpetual position on Bitget, Bybit, MEXC or OKX, the direct effect is nothing. The report describes trading of Bitcoin, Ether and USDt and says nothing about perpetual futures or about any of these four exchanges. The service has not launched yet, so funding rates, fees and liquidity on those venues are unaffected by this news today.
Source: cointelegraph — Russia clears Sberbank for crypto trading ahead of December launch
Price today: Bitcoin