Russia’s Sber eyes USDT loans, questions digital ruble demand

Russia’s largest bank, Sber, plans to expand its crypto-backed lending to accept Tether’s USDt stablecoin and Ether as collateral alongside Bitcoin, according to a senior executive.

Sber will adapt its existing products and gradually expand its offerings as Russia’s new crypto law takes effect, Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov said, according to a Friday TASS report. The bank plans to add the assets as collateral after the Bank of Russia permits them for public trading, he said.

The plans come as Russia rolls out a regulated crypto market under a law signed by president Vladimir Putin on Aug. 4, with core provisions taking effect Sept. 1.

The law gives the Bank of Russia authority to determine which crypto assets can trade on regulated exchanges. The central bank proposed Bitcoin, Ether and USDT for regulated exchange trading on Aug. 11, saying they met requirements including market capitalization, trading volume and at least five years of price history on overseas markets.

Sber has taken a more cautious view of the digital ruble, Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), ahead of its wider rollout on Sept. 1. Sber’s chief financial officer Taras Skvortsov reportedly said that the bank sees little evidence of broad demand for the CBDC.

“I don’t see any clear interest in this instrument, apart from the central bank’s,” Skvortsov said, adding that neither retail nor corporate clients nor financial institutions are actively pushing for the CBDC.

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