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

Odaily reported that Russia's largest private bank, Alfa-Bank, 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 to develop its own products and instruments capable of competing in the international market. He estimated that after the government's cryptocurrency regulatory bill takes effect, retail brokerage services involving Russian and foreign infrastructure could 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 customer crypto transactions and freezing transfers to addresses not approved by the state.