Russian Banking Giant VTB to Become Country's First to Offer Spot Crypto Trading

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Russian Banking Giant VTB to Become Country’s First to Offer Spot Crypto Trading: Report Original Link: VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest lender by assets, plans to start offering spot crypto trading to qualified investors next year, becoming the first institution in the country to allow clients direct, deliverable trading for major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether.

The facility will be offered to investors with portfolios exceeding $1.3 million or an annual income of over $650,000, according to Andrey Yatskov, head of brokerage services at VTB.

“Preparations are already underway for testing by ‘superqualified’ investors, but it’s clear that this status won’t become widespread,” he said.

Russia has increasingly turned to crypto to bypass Western sanctions on its oil trade with China and India. Oil and gas accounts for 30% of Russia’s federal budget. Once strongly opposed to digital assets, which included a nationwide ban on crypto, the country began embracing virtual currencies as the U.S. and European Union began levying new rounds of sanctions against the country in 2022.