The head of Russia's largest bank, VTB, Andrey Kostin, has openly admitted that he views the very idea of digital currencies positively and sees them as the future. However, his attitude toward private crypto assets remains restrained, and there are solid fundamental reasons for this, tied to the nature of monetary power.
At a recent session of the Eastern Economic Forum, where the topic of generational continuity in business and power was discussed, Kostin voiced a position rarely stated so candidly: non-state cryptocurrencies like bitcoin undermine the very foundations of monetary management. Regulators build their policy on managing money aggregates, interest rates, and liquidity control. The emergence of a parallel, uncontrolled money supply removes significant volumes of funds from their influence.
His reasoning is simple and harsh for decentralization enthusiasts: "Private, non-state cryptocurrencies provoke resistance from all central banks and financial authorities. We have monetary policy, M1 and M2 aggregates, and key rates. But here, in parallel, there exists a market that is not regulated at all."
Why the collapse of banks never happened
The head of VTB also mocks the long-standing predictions about the imminent death of traditional banks. He recalled that back in the Silicon Valley era, he was promised that within ten years blockchain would destroy banks, and all settlements would occur only on distributed ledgers. Two decades have passed, and the banking system has not just survived—the volume of cash settlements has even been growing recently.
This observation is crucial for understanding the real state of affairs. Technology has not replaced the institution of trust; it has merely forced it to evolve.
Banks are building their own framework around crypto
Instead of fighting the inevitable, major players prefer to integrate cryptocurrencies into their own infrastructure. Russia's largest banks have already prepared the technical foundation for cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency. According to estimates from Alfa-Bank's top executives, competition for this market will be extremely fierce, and the first clients will be miners and importers already working with digital assets.
The same logic is evident in the story of the ruble stablecoin A7A5. In its documents on stablecoins, the Bank of Russia never once mentioned this largest ruble token, with turnover exceeding $100 billion, backed by the state-owned Promsvyazbank. Experts link this silence to the protection of the digital ruble and a reluctance to hand control over ruble issuance to a private-state partnership.
Similar processes are underway in the West. A coalition of 39 U.S. banking associations has announced the creation of the BankChain Alliance—an industry blockchain network for stablecoins and tokenized deposits—which 3,283 banks with $21.8 trillion in assets plan to launch in 2027.
The caution of regulators is also confirmed by the first data on the real utility of crypto instruments. Italy's central bank tested transfers of 200 USDC across ten routes and found that total costs range from 0.3% to 9%. Stablecoins have not yet shown a sustainable advantage over traditional channels.
My conclusion as an analyst: we are witnessing not a war with technology, but a struggle for control over issuance. Banks are not afraid of blockchain—they are afraid of losing their monopoly on creating money. The outcome of this struggle will determine whether the crypto market becomes truly global or remains a niche tool for settlements and speculation.