Russia's central bank issues digital asset licenses to Sberbanks, a clear policy reversal

The Central Bank of Russia has previously called on the government to ban cryptocurrencies in Russia. But on Thursday, the CBR added Sberbank, the country's largest lender, to its list of operators of its digital financial asset information system.

The change in attitude appears to have taken place less than two weeks after the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) reiterated its position proposing a ban on the issuance, mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia. In a press release on Thursday, CBR added the country's largest lender, Sberbank, to its list of operators of its digital financial asset information system. According to local news outlet Tass, CBR said:

"After being included in the list, companies can issue digital financial assets and exchange them among users within their platform."

Sberbank's blockchain platform is based on distributed ledger technology, which theoretically prevents information from being tampered with. The legal entity of Sberbank will soon be able to publish digital financial statements proving monetary claims, obtain digital assets distributed in the Sberbank system, and conduct cryptocurrency transactions. Sergey Popov, Head of the Transactions Department at Sberbank, commented on the development as follows:

“While we are still in the early stages of working with digital assets, we realize that further development is necessary in order to fit into the existing regulatory framework. We are ready to work closely with regulators and administrations in this direction.”

As a state-owned bank, Savings Bank has been the target of sanctions, such as those imposed by the U.S. Treasury, since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Earlier this month, savings banks withdrew from nearly all European markets due to EU sanctions. Meanwhile, its foreign depositary shares tumbled more than 99% on the London Stock Exchange and trading was halted, where it was last quoted at $0.05 apiece.

The damaging sanctions imposed on savings banks and the apparent policy reversal of cryptocurrencies by central banks have led to speculation that digital currencies could be a "savior" for the troubled bank. However, experts do not believe that sanctioned financial institutions can use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions.