Russia registered nine cryptocurrency market participants on Tuesday, publishing the country's first exchange operator and custodian registers under legislation that took effect Sept. 1.

The Bank of Russia listed four authorized crypto exchanges and five digital-asset custodians, placing Sberbank on the custodian register alongside smaller operators. Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, said on Monday it had applied for digital custodian status and intends to roll out crypto services on Dec. 1.

Which entities made the registers?

The custodian register contains five names:

• Sberbank
• Atomyze
• Voltari
• Cloud Infrastructure
• VTB Bank

The exchange operator register contains four:

• T-Invest Lab
• Zefir
• Sistema-Crypto
• VTB Bank

VTB appears on both lists, meaning a single Russian bank can now route client crypto trades while also safeguarding the underlying assets.

What will Sberbank actually offer?

Sberbank's initial product slate covers three assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Tether's USDt (USDT). Distribution will run through three existing channels — SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness — reusing the retail and corporate infrastructure the bank already operates for traditional securities.

The Dec. 1 launch will be the first commercial test of the new framework. None of the other four custodians or three exchange-only operators has yet announced product launch dates, leaving Sberbank with a first-mover position inside the licensed channel.

What does the new framework do?

President Vladimir Putin signed the underlying crypto law in August. The statute creates defined categories of exchange operators, custodians, brokers and qualified investors, and assigns the Bank of Russia as the consolidated supervisor. The law preserves the long-standing prohibition on using crypto as a means of payment for goods and services inside Russia, confining digital assets to investment and settlement use cases. That structure gives the central bank direct authority over both the licensed trading channel and the underlying settlement infrastructure.

Why does the timing matter?

Sept. 1 marked the first regulatory anchor for a market that previously operated in legal grey zones. By publishing registers weeks after the framework took effect, the Bank of Russia has signaled that onboarding licensed infrastructure, not enforcement against legacy offshore venues, is its near-term priority.

Related reporting from this week shows uptake on parallel state infrastructure: digital ruble accounts exceeded 220,000 within the first month, nearly four times the central bank's own forecast. The two pipelines — a sovereign digital currency and a regulated private-crypto market — are advancing on separate rails, though both now fall under the same supervisor, which will need to balance competing policy goals.

What to watch next

Sberbank's Dec. 1 launch will test whether the new framework can convert authorization into transaction volume. The Bank of Russia has not yet published capital, audit or reporting thresholds for registered operators, and any subsequent enforcement against unauthorized platforms will determine how durable the licensed channel becomes.