VTB plans to create its own digital depository within the Russian framework, where digital assets—including cryptocurrency—will be stored, accounted for, and handled. VTB’s head of brokerage services, Andrey Yatskov, told RBC Investments about this.
“The bank is preparing to operate in the status of a digital depository. VTB will begin to store, account for, and transact digital assets within the timelines defined by legislation, after all regulatory issues have been resolved. VTB’s digital depository will become an element of responsible Russian financial infrastructure,” Yatskov said.
He added that VTB intends to become one of the first banks to offer customers the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies within the regulated Russian framework. “The groundwork for this is already in place: VTB has been included in the register of operators that issue digital financial assets,” said Andrey Yatskov.
In December 2025, Yatskov said in an interview with RBC Investment that VTB is taking a close interest in the cryptocurrency market. He noted that if the Bank of Russia allows buying real cryptocurrency via brokerage accounts, large players would hardly be able to refuse this direction.
Similar plans were announced the day before by the T-Bank group. On July 1, Vyacheslav Tsyganov, Executive Director of “T-Technologies,” said at the Bank of Russia Financial Congress that the group expects to create the first digital depository in Russia, which will handle the storage and accounting of cryptocurrency.
“In terms of licenses, I can’t disclose everything; after all, we also have friends and competitors here. But I’ll lift the veil a little: we already have a project for CFA (digital financial assets. — RBC), issued on Bitcoin, which also includes automated market-making, and it can physically store cryptocurrencies. So we want to be absolutely certain that we will be the first or one of the first digital depositories,” Tsyganov said.
He added that the T-Bank group also plans to develop the sale of cryptocurrencies through its broker, “T-Investments”.
Vladimir Chistyukhin, the first deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, suggested that cryptocurrency transactions in Russia under the new regulation could be carried out as early as November 2026. He also assumed that after regulation appears and trading begins, Russian participants would start creating their own cryptocurrencies, which would also be traded in accordance with the existing regulation.
Moscow Exchange also announced the launch of cryptocurrency operations by the end of 2026. “We expect that we will be ready to offer the execution of cryptocurrency transactions as soon as not only the law is adopted, but also the relevant secondary regulatory act,” said Igor Marich, a representative of the Moscow Exchange Group.
The bill “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” was submitted to the State Duma in April 2026 and passed its first reading. It sets out the rules for the circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia and defines the scope of professional participants in this market. New professional participants are expected to emerge — crypto exchanges and digital depositories. The latter will be able to store and account for cryptocurrencies and CFA; they will not need to obtain a separate Bank of Russia license if they already have a depository license.
It was expected that the bill would be adopted in June and come into force on July 1, 2026, but the timetable for its adoption has shifted. The new expected date for entry into force is September 1, the first deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, Vladimir Chistyukhin, said on the sidelines of the forum. The transition period will last until July 1, 2027.