Russia's first crypto exchanges are registered

Key Takeaways

The registers	On Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, the Bank of Russia listed five digital depositories and four firms that may exchange digital currency. Each firm's right to operate is dated that day.
The banks	Sberbank of Russia is on the custodian register. VTB is on both the custodian register and the exchange register.
The payment ban	Federal Law No. 282-FZ bars people from taking digital currency as payment for ordinary goods and services, aside from exceptions the statute itself sets.
The retail cap	A Bank of Russia draft from Aug. 11, 2026, would limit a non-qualified investor to 300,000 rubles of crypto a year at each intermediary. The Oct. 6 notice does not say that draft is in force.

Russia's first crypto exchanges and custodians were named on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, when the Bank of Russia published its first two registers under a law that took effect on Sept. 1. The files list five digital depositories, including Sberbank and VTB, and four exchange firms, including VTB.

Russia's first crypto exchanges, by name

The Oct. 6 notice gives the counts and not the names. Those are in the register files, each stamped 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2026. Every firm's right to operate is dated that day.

The custodian register, for firms that keep records of digital assets, names:

• Bank VTB, registered in St. Petersburg.
• Sberbank of Russia, in Moscow.
• Voltari, listed as AO Voltari, in Moscow.
• Atomyze, in Moscow.
• Cloud Infrastructure, in Moscow.

The exchange register names VTB again, plus T-Invest Lab, Zefir, and Sistema-Crypto, all in Moscow. Atomyze and T-Invest Lab share a building on Gruzinsky Val. Profile reported that both belong to the T-Technologies group. Interfax reported that Cloud Infrastructure is owned by Sistema-Crypto, so that group holds both a custodian seat and an exchange seat.

The central bank says the exchange firms may buy and sell digital currencies in their own name, and with their own money, outside organized trading. That is a dealer license. On the notice's wording, it is not a license to run a public order-book exchange.

What the Oct. 6 licenses allow

Custodians may record and transfer digital currencies and digital rights, and they may give clients access to the identifier addresses where those assets sit, the central bank said. The statute defines an identifier address as a unique string used to record movements of those assets.

The firms entered under transitional rules in Federal Law No. 282-FZ, "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights." The Kremlin's text says the Duma passed it on July 21, 2026, the Federation Council approved it on July 24, and the law is dated Aug. 4. The central bank said it took effect on Sept. 1, 2026. From listing day, a firm must follow the rules for making and recording trades. It has until Sept. 1, 2027, to bring the rest of its business into line with the law.

The Bank of Russia's guide for these depositories sets minimum capital from 50 million rubles for some categories to 250 million rubles for a settlement depository. The Oct. 6 notice does not say which tier each firm met. Those admission rules took effect on Oct. 5, the guide says. Interfax reported that banks can use a simplified notification path and be admitted in a day.

A payment ban, and a cap still in draft

Article 1 bars anyone in Russia from accepting digital currencies or digital rights as payment for goods, information, work, or services, unless the statute allows it. The Kremlin text sets exceptions, including fees inside a blockchain network and the use of digital currencies to pay for securities or other digital assets.

The European Union took a different path. Its Markets in Crypto-Assets rules began to cover stablecoins on June 30, 2024, with wider rules phased in after that. In May 2025, Meta was in early talks to use stablecoins for creator payouts, Gnosis News reported, citing Fortune. Russia's law still blocks that kind of payment.

On Aug. 11, 2026, the Bank of Russia put out a draft for public comment. A non-qualified investor could buy only 300,000 rubles of cryptocurrency a year through each broker, exchanger, or asset manager. The draft list for public trading is Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether's USDT. Qualified investors could buy any admitted cryptocurrency, with no ruble cap, and every investor would have to pass a test. Comments were due by Aug. 24. The bank says the cap is in a draft. Profile described the same notice as a decision about what non-qualified investors will be allowed to buy. The Oct. 6 announcement does not say the draft was adopted, so it is not clear the cap is in force.

What Sberbank and VTB plan next

Sberbank said on Monday, Oct. 5, that it had applied and aimed to open first products on Dec. 1, 2026, in SberBank Online, SberInvestments, and SberBusiness, Profile reported. Cointelegraph reported the same date and said the first coins would be Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT. Interfax, citing that Oct. 5 statement, said the date depends on the central bank and on whether subordinate rules are ready. The bank is on the register. Whether Dec. 1 holds is not settled.

Vitaly Sergeychuk, a deputy president and chairman of VTB's management board, said in a VTB My Investments statement quoted by Interfax that the bank expects broad investor access through that app in November 2026 and through its exchanger in December 2026. Olga Kim, head of VTB's depository, said the broker had already done stablecoin deals for corporate clients, settled at a depository built on VTB's existing one. T-Technologies told Profile that T-Bank will test the service on a small group of employees before any wider launch.

The registers do not say retail customers can buy cryptocurrency now. They record who may keep the books and who may deal. Alfa-Bank and Sovcombank had spoken of depository plans, Interfax reported, and neither is on the Oct. 6 list. Product dates and the fate of the retail draft are still open.

This article is news, not financial advice.