Russia's largest bank is ready to expand the list of assets that can be left as collateral for a loan. This applies not only to bitcoin, but also to ether and the USDT stablecoin. The statement by Sber's Deputy Chairman of the Board Anatoly Popov was made on the eve of the new law on digital assets coming into force — from September 1, 2026.
According to Popov, the bank has already conducted a pilot with bitcoin and now plans to add ether and USDT, but only after the Central Bank officially permits their public circulation. Earlier, the Central Bank included these three assets in the list allowed for regulated trading based on capitalization, volumes, and a five-year price history on foreign platforms. According to Sber's estimates, cryptocurrency trading volumes in Russia could reach 4 trillion rubles in the first year alone.
Here lies an important paradox: cryptocurrency in Russia still cannot be used as a means of payment within the country, but it is already recognized as full-fledged collateral for loans. The bank does not issue money "on a promise" but records a real asset that can be sold in case of default. This changes the usual logic of collateral — instead of an apartment or a car, a client can leave digital coins whose value is determined by the global market.
For a borrower, such an instrument provides access to liquidity without selling assets. Given the key rate of 14%, many prefer not to lock in losses from a sale but to take a loan secured by collateral. For the bank, this is a way to diversify collateral and attract clients from the crypto industry — miners, traders, companies with foreign revenue. However, risks remain: ether's volatility is higher than bitcoin's, and USDT carries the risk of freezing by the issuer.
Sber already has experience: in December 2025, the bank issued the first bitcoin-backed loan to a corporate borrower — the mining company Intelion. Now the infrastructure is ready for scaling. The new law creates a framework for custodial services and digital depositories, which reduces operational risks for the bank.
Ultimately, the traditional financial system is gradually admitting crypto assets not as a speculative instrument but as one of the types of collateral. For the average client, this is a signal: the value of an asset is no longer determined only by its "official" status, but by its ability to preserve and transfer value in a regulated environment. Banks are learning to work with what they previously considered marginal.
