While Russia has been back and forth on what it's official stance is regarding cryptocurrencies, that has not stopped the largest bank in the Russian Federation from getting a piece of the action. Sberbank is launching it's very own crypto exchange, but the catch is it will not be in Russia. it will instead be implemented through Sberbank Switzerland AG, the Swiss branch of the Moscow based banking and financial services company.
The Head of Global Markets for Sberbank Andrey Shemetov told the Russian media outlet RBC that the Russian state bank picked Switzerland because cryptocurrency operations are currently not allowed within nation, forcing them to look abroad for a place to set up the exchange. Switzerland has recently been cultivating a very healthy and positive stance toward cryptocurrency. Given such an outlook it makes sense in the long run for Sberbank to locate a cryptocurrency exchange there.
Shemetov elaborated that:
“We wish to serve our customers’ interests, that’s why we think that we need to have strategic access to all kinds of products and services.”
Sberbank is a huge player in the global financial sector with revenue in excess of 43 billion dollars and almost a half a trillion dollars in assets. With such a huge market maker beginning to take interest in the fledging technology it is no wonder that Moscow has begun to slightly warm up to cryptocurrency, but they are not likely to fully embrace it without building a regulatory framework.
At this time Sberbank does not plan to provide access to the exchange for retail investors, but is instead looking to do is operate for institutional investors. “Cryptocurrency exchange operations will be available for legal entities only,” Shemetov stated while emphasizing that cryptocurrency investments are a high risk venture due in part to market volatility.