The Russian banking giant VTB wants to become the first lender in the country to allow its customers to trade cryptocurrencies directly.

Speaking to the Russian media outlet RBC, Andrey Yatskov, VTB’s head of brokerage services, said many customers are keen to buy “real” crypto rather than crypto derivative products.

VTB has a market capitalisation of about $244 billion, assets worth some $413 billion, and more than 1,300 branches in Russia.

“As we see it, real cryptocurrency will be available for purchase via our brokerage accounts,” he said.

Crypto trading remains completely unregulated in Russia. However, many financial heavyweights, including VTB, its biggest rival Sberbank, and the Moscow Exchange, have received the central bank’s permission to offer crypto derivative products.

The VTB executive’s comments come in the wake of reports earlier this month claiming that the central bank is ready to regulate crypto, a sector it once favoured banning altogether.

Now, VTB’s new plan is to allow customers to trade Bitcoin and other tokens through its banking apps.

“Client interest in crypto assets is certainly high,” he said. “That reflects a global trend.”

Imminent launch

Yatskov said VTB is already preparing to test a crypto trading platform with its “super-qualified clients,” or customers with investment portfolios worth over $1.3 million or annual incomes of over $649,000.

The central bank has previously called for a ban on crypto trading, voicing its opposition to crypto adoption as recently as March this year.

Of late, however, it has become an increasingly isolated voice in Moscow, with lawmakers, business chiefs, banks, and government ministries instead pushing for regulation and, ultimately, taxation.

‘We certainly see ourselves playing a role. The infrastructure is already in place. There are a large number of clients [who want to trade crypto].’

—  Andrey Yatskov, VTB’s head of brokerage services

Meanwhile, more Russian firms are increasingly turning to crypto as a sanctions-busting tool for cross-border trade.

And the Russian industrial Bitcoin mining sector is also continuing to grow. Apparently unable to hold back the tide any longer, the central bank has decided to make further concessions.

The bank’s first concession to these forces was allowing “super-qualified” investors to trade crypto in a designated sandbox.

“It’s unlikely that [regulators will object to this],” said Yatskov, referring to his bank’s plans to offer crypto to clients. “Therefore, based on [their] position, we will participate in the market.”

Central bank compromise

Earlier this week, the central bank’s first deputy governor, Vladimir Chistyukhin, said the bank was “considering easing restrictions” for crypto trading, too, “as a strategic response to sanctions regimes.”

As a result, Russian commercial banks now see themselves playing a role in a world of “permit-holding crypto brokers and depositories,” RBC wrote, while the government eyes a crackdown on unlicensed exchanges.

Yatskov said that regulation would “definitely boost” transparency in the crypto market.

“We certainly see ourselves playing a role,” he explained. “The infrastructure is already in place. There are a large number of clients [who want to trade crypto].”

“From what we have heard, we can conclude that the central bank will assign regulated participants [such as commercial banks] a key role,” Yatskov said.