Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, is preparing to launch its own digital warehouse and full range of cryptocurrency services once national regulation takes effect, joining a widening race among Russian banks to seize a market that does not yet exist legally.
Dmitry Vitman, Chief Operating Officer of Alfa Bank’s corporate and investment business, He said RBC Investments said that the bank intends to provide “all possible services related to digital currencies” as soon as the relevant legislation comes into force.
“First of all, we plan to create our own digital warehouse and offer its services to other companies,” he said.
Under the framework expected to govern the market, the digital warehouse will record and store cryptocurrencies and digital financial assets, monitor customer transactions, and block transfers to addresses not permitted by authorities.
Companies that already have a depository license will not need a separate license from the central bank to operate.
The market will develop gradually, Vitman said. Retail brokerage will come first, relying on Russian and international infrastructure, with a possible launch in late 2026 or early 2027 if digital currency legislation comes into force in September 2026.
However, he warned that significant liquidity and volume in Russia’s cryptocurrency market are unlikely to be achieved before late 2027, a timeline that reflects both an untested regulatory mechanism and a warning for wary institutions to act before the rules become final.
The bank also wants to build Russian investment vehicles on open blockchain networks capable of attracting foreign investors.
“It is important for Russia to develop its own tools, otherwise we will have nothing to offer,” Vitman said. “We need to attract investors to our infrastructure, so we need to create products that can compete globally.”
A crowded square in Russia
Alpha Bank is not alone. It is owned by T-Technologies Group, which controls T-Bank Announce It plans to launch a digital warehouse built on the digital financial asset platform Atomize and sell cryptocurrencies through its broker T-Investments.
VTB Bank Plan as well To create its own local digital repository to store, record and distribute digital assets, including Bitcoin.
State-owned giant Sberbank is moving faster. The bank will launch a digital warehouse for storing and accounting for cryptocurrencies by December 1. Sberbank also plans to enable authorized cryptocurrency transactions within the Sber app and SberInvestments, and integrate custody directly into services reaching tens of millions of Russians.
When can you start trading Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?
The draft law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” was approved on first reading in the State Duma, Advancing a sweeping system Which sets the rules for cryptocurrency trading and introduces new professional participants, including cryptocurrency exchanges and digital depositories.
The law was originally scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, but the timeline for the law has been delayed, with the new expected date for its entry into force set for September 1.
Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Head of the Central Bank, said the regulator expects to adopt and publish all necessary rules for launching legal cryptocurrency operations by November, paving the way for the first transactions.
The Moscow Stock Exchange expects to conduct the first cryptocurrency trades by the end of 2026.
