Majority of Russians now save some money in crypto every month

The majority of Russians save some money every month, in case of unforeseen expenses, and cryptocurrency is now among the assets in the buffer.

While bank deposits are still widespread, crypto wallets are also among the popular choices. And for a small minority that’s likely to grow, they are the preferred option to store liquid funds.

Over 80% of Russians maintain financial buffers

The great majority of Russian citizens, 84%, save money on a monthly basis to have their own financial cushion, according to a new survey conducted by Sberbank’s life insurance unit, Sber Strakhovanie, and the employment website Rabota.ru.

The study, the results of which were quoted by the online news portal Gazeta.ru, also found that 67% simply set aside unspent funds at the month, while another 17% have the habit of regularly adding a specific amount to their reserves.

Almost every third Russian (32%) believes that 1 million rubles ($12,000) is the optimal amount to keep in store at all times.

For around 9%, this type of savings can go up to 100,000 rubles ($1,200), 19% said the cushion should be in the range of 100,000 – 300,000 rubles ($3,500), and 20% approved the 300,000 to 500,000 bracket (approx. $6,000).

Bank deposits remain the most widely used tool to build a buffer (60%). Around 35% of the respondents prefer cash and 30% opt for opening a savings account.

Some 17% like investment and insurance plans and 6% have foreign currency deposits. Another 2% of the participants in the poll pick cryptocurrency as their top choice.

Despite the relatively small share of those who rely primarily on crypto as their main means of having a cash cushion, cryptocurrencies have been gaining popularity with Russians in the past few years, marked by fiat restrictions related to the war in Ukraine.

Another study, released earlier this year, showed, for example, that a fifth of Russian families (26%) are ready to invest their “maternity capital,” a one-time benefit allocated by the government to boost fertility, in decentralized digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), if they are allowed to do so.

The latest survey was carried out throughout the Russian Federation, in the first half of September. More than 3,000 people participated in the poll, the organizers said.

Russians buy crypto despite limited options

In general, legal access to cryptocurrencies has been quite limited for most law-abiding people in Russia, where regulators are still strongly opposed to their free circulation in the country’s economy, their use for payments and other transactions, or for investment purposes.

A special “experimental legal regime” allows companies to spend, accept and exchange digital coins within foreign trade deals under Western sanctions. And in May, the Bank of Russia authorized financial institutions to offer crypto derivatives on the domestic financial market.

However, the latter are strictly reserved for what the monetary authority calls highly qualified investors, meaning mostly investment companies and rich individuals with sufficient funds to risk.

The rest haven’t stayed out of crypto, though, as according to an estimate, quoted by Cryptopolitan in June, wallets linked to Russian residents hold more than $25 billion worth of crypto assets. That’s despite a string of recent amendments targeting crypto-related operations, particularly peer-to-peer trading.

It’s worth noting that Russia’s finance ministry, which has generally maintained a more liberal stance than the central bank, recently suggested easing the requirements for granting investors the “highly qualified” status. Russia’s market for crypto products is expected to reach $24 billion in 2026, according to one forecast.

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