Russia’s biggest private bank just stepped into the crypto ring. Alfa-Bank has begun testing cryptocurrency trading for a select group of qualified investors through its Alfa-Investments brokerage app, offering access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and other major digital assets.
The testing phase is deliberately narrow. Only qualified investors, a regulatory designation in Russia that typically requires meeting certain wealth or experience thresholds, can participate right now.
Alfa-Bank’s ambitions extend well beyond a pilot, though. The bank is planning a comprehensive retail launch by 2026, complete with digital depositories and ruble exchange gateways. That timeline hinges on Russia finalizing its regulatory framework for crypto, with new rules allowing banks to offer crypto products to qualified investors expected to take effect around July 1, 2026.
The bank isn’t starting from scratch, either. Its A-Token platform for digital financial assets launched back in February 2023 and has already processed 86 digital financial asset issuances worth RUB 37.5 billion. That figure represents roughly 45% of Russia’s entire DFA transaction volume for 2023. Now Alfa-Bank wants to layer actual cryptocurrency trading on top of that existing infrastructure and position itself as a regulated digital custodian for both individual and corporate clients.
