Russia clears first crypto exchanges, custodians under new law

Russia has registered its first cryptocurrency exchange operators and digital custodians under new crypto regulations that took effect on Sept. 1.

The Bank of Russia on Tuesday published its first registers of authorized crypto operators, listing four exchange operators and five custodians.

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, was added to the custodian list, alongside Atomyze, Voltari and Cloud Infrastructure. T-Invest Lab, Zefir and Sistema-Crypto are on the crypto exchange operator list. VTB Bank appears on both lists.

Sberbank said on Monday that it had applied for digital custodian status and plans to launch its first crypto products on Dec. 1. The bank said it initially plans to support Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and USDt (USDT) through its existing SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness platforms.

The registrations come after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a crypto law in August that created a regulated framework for exchanges, custodians, brokers and investors. The law puts the market under the Bank of Russia’s oversight and maintains Russia’s ban on using crypto to pay for goods and services.