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

Odaily Planet Daily News 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 develop its own products and tools capable of competing in the international market. He expects that retail brokerage services involving Russian and foreign infrastructure may emerge in Russia between late 2026 and early 2027 after the government's cryptocurrency regulatory bill takes effect, but large-scale liquidity is not expected until at least the end of 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.