Sberbank Moves to Launch Crypto-Backed Loans in Russia
- Sberbank issued Russia’s first bitcoin-backed loan to IntelionData, a major bitcoin miner.
- Digital financial asset issuances on Sberbank’s platform reached RUB 408 billion (approximately $5.3 billion) in a recent year, up from RUB 73 billion ($948 million) the previous year.
- The bank’s own digital financial asset holdings surged sevenfold in six months to RUB 185 billion ($2.2 billion).
- Sberbank plans to target businesses holding cryptocurrency on their balance sheets with its lending program.
- Another lender, Sovcombank, began offering crypto-backed loans earlier this year for individuals and businesses legally holding bitcoin.
Sberbank is coordinating with the central bank to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency lending and has expressed interest in testing decentralized finance instruments as part of its offerings.
The rapid growth of Sberbank’s digital financial assets—up over five times from the prior year—highlights the increasing role of tokenized assets within Russia’s banking sector. (Source)
