Banking spreads on cryptocurrency in Russia: why high fees are a temporary phenomenon
The Russian market for banking operations with digital assets is just beginning to take shape, and the first steps of credit institutions in this niche will be accompanied by inflated spreads. However, as my analysis of market dynamics shows, banks simply will not be able to maintain margins at 5–7% or higher under healthy competition. It is a matter of time and the number of players.
Why starting spreads will be high, but not for long
At the initial stage, banks are forced to factor into the client price not only the desired profit, but also the costs of liquidity, hedging, compliance, and building new infrastructure. In certain products, the markup can reach several basis points, making the first offerings expensive for the end user.
Nevertheless, I see no prerequisites for the sustainable persistence of such spreads. As soon as several banks and other regulated participants enter the market, margins will begin to compress fairly quickly. The spread itself will be shaped by the market, not the regulator. Its size will be determined by the global price of the crypto asset, the cost of liquidity, hedging, infrastructure, and the specific margin of the bank itself.
The role of the regulator and internal factors
The Bank of Russia, it seems, will focus on access rules, the composition of participants, and infrastructure, rather than setting specific buy and sell quotes. Therefore, markups across different banks may vary significantly. Within an individual credit institution, the spread will depend on the number of active product users, the volume of real user liquidity in the order book, and the cost of liquidity that the bank will have to hold on its balance sheet. I would classify infrastructure and legal costs as secondary factors.
Who will win the race for the client
Victory will go to those with a larger marketing budget and a greater willingness to take risks for dominance in the new economy. This is not only about qualified investors. The more liquidity providers and competition among banks, the closer prices will be to market levels. This mechanism resembles the foreign exchange market more than a product with an administratively set tariff.
The mass client today is not ready to pay simply for the word "bank." Since 2022, the level of stress in retail has been high: the Russian user is willing to accept many scenarios, but not an unjustifiably high cost of service. The picture is different for affluent clients. Large capital continues to move between countries, and with an average transaction of 3–5 million rubles, a person is willing to pay for speed, transparency, and the absence of problems. Which one such a client will prefer—their own accountant or a Russian bank—is a rhetorical question.
My conclusion: the market will quickly find equilibrium, and banks that are the first to offer fair spreads will gain a strategic advantage. Inflated fees at the start are merely the price of entry, not a long-term model.