Two of Russia's largest banks are piloting cryptocurrency portfolios for their private clients, the Kommersant newspaper reported Friday.
Under the watch of the Bank of Russia, Sberbank and Alfa Bank will offer their clients shares in a special fund that will be trading the six most popular cryptocurrencies on major exchanges, including Kraken and Bitstamp, according to the report.
Sberbank, the main state-owned bank responsible for processing government employee paychecks, and Alfa Bank, the largest private bank in the nation, plan to enter crypto trading with the help of the AddCapital investment fund, the National Settlement Depository and Group IB.
Sberbank Private Banking deputy chair Ana Ivanchuk said:
"We'd like to offer our clients an absolutely transparent way to invest in digital assets with a full compliance with regulations that will let them invest in the product they are interested in Russia."