Russia’s Largest Private Bank Alfa-Bank To Explore Bitcoin And Crypto Trading
Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private lender, is preparing to launch its digital vault and a full slate of crypto services once the national law goes into effect, joining a growing race among Russian banks to capture a market that has yet to be regulated.
Dmitry Vitman, Alfa-Bank’s chief business and investment officer, told RBC Investments that the bank intends to provide “all possible services related to digital currencies” once the relevant legislation comes into force.
“First and foremost, we plan to build our own digital depository and offer its services to other companies,” he said.
Under the framework that is expected to regulate the market, the digital currency depository will record and store cryptocurrency and digital assets, monitor client transactions, and block transfers to addresses not approved by the authorities.
Firms that already have a depository license will not need a separate license from the Central Bank to use it.
Vitman said the market will gradually improve. Retail sales will come first, depending on Russian and international infrastructure, which may be launched in late 2026 or early 2027 if the digital currency law comes into force in September 2026.
Still, he warned that meaningful capital purchases and volume in Russia’s crypto market are unlikely to happen before the end of 2027, a timeline that reflects both the untested regulatory machinery and the warning of institutions wary of moving before the rules expire.
The bank also wants to create Russian investment instruments on open blockchains that can attract foreign investors.
“It is important that Russia makes its own metals, otherwise we will have nothing to offer you,” said Vitman. “We need to attract investors to our infrastructure, so we need to build products that will be able to compete globally.”
A crowded field in Russia
Alfa-Bank is not alone. IT-Technologies Group, which controls T-Bank, has announced plans to launch a digital money storage facility built on the Atomize digital financial asset platform and to sell crypto through its broker, T-Investments.
VTB Bank also plans to build its own digital depository to store, record, and distribute digital assets, including Bitcoin.
State giant Sberbank is moving very fast. The bank will launch a digital deposit and crypto account on December 1. Sberbank also plans to enable authorized crypto transactions within its Sber and SberInvestments applications, which include direct deposits to services that reach tens of millions of Russians.
Where bitcoin and crypto trading can begin
The draft law “On Digital Currency and Digital rights” has passed its first reading in the State Duma, developed a sweeping regime that defines the rules of crypto circulation and introduces new professional participants, including crypto exchanges and digital depositories.
Originally scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, the law’s timeline has passed, and the new expected effective date is set for September 1.
Vladimir Chistyukhin, the first vice-chairman of the Central Bank, said that the regulator expects all the rules necessary to start legal crypto activities to be accepted and published in November, paving the way for the first transactions.
The Moscow Exchange expects to conduct its first crypto trade by the end of 2026.
