Russia's largest private bank, Alfa-Bank, plans to offer cryptocurrency-related services

Odaily Planet Daily News: Russia's largest private bank, Alfa-Bank, has announced plans to become a digital custodian and offer cryptocurrency-related services to its own customers and other legal entities. Alfa-Bank's Chief Operating Officer, Dmitry Vitman, stated that the bank aims to create investment tools based on open blockchains to attract foreign investors and develop proprietary products and tools competitive in the international market. He predicts that after the government's cryptocurrency regulatory bill takes effect, retail brokerage services involving Russian and foreign infrastructure may emerge in Russia between late 2026 and early 2027, but significant liquidity is not expected until at least late 2027. A digital custodian is a regulated entity responsible, under Russian law, for monitoring all client cryptocurrency transactions and freezing transfers to addresses not approved by the state.