Russia’s Biggest Bank Sberbank Pilots ‘DeFi Tools’ for TradFi Convergence

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank — currently under U.S. and EU sanctions — is piloting “various instruments from the world of decentralized finance” as it anticipates a future convergence between decentralized and traditional finance.

In a recent interview with Russian business media outlet RBC, Sberbank management board deputy chairman Anatoly Popov declined to specify which DeFi tools the bank is testing. However, he noted that any meaningful integration would depend first on a clear regulatory regime in the country.

“We are confident that in the future traditional banking and DeFi will work in convergence. Legal crypto markets in Russia are only emerging. Ahead lies a long road: developing regulation, building infrastructure, filling it with new products and creating a liquid secondary market,” Popov told RBC.

Stablecoins are another area the bank is closely monitoring. Popov described them as a “new global technological trend that will still show itself in different financial spheres.” Despite the potential, Sberbank, being currently under U.S. and European sanctions, is taking a cautious approach. As Popov put it:

“Specific products that work with open blockchains will become possible when clear regulation appears — especially on taxation, compliance and investor protection.”

Until then, the bank’s focus is on products that fit within existing Russian law.

The Defiant reached out to Sberbank for comments on its DeFi plans, but didn’t hear back by press time.

In mid-October, the Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, said it would consider allowing the tokenization of domestic company shares for foreign investors.

First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said at the time that tokenizing Russian equities for overseas trading is “a possible option,” adding that it would largely depend on foreign partners willing to create and operate tokenized versions of Russian assets abroad.