Daily Summary2026-08-29

Sberbank, Russia's largest state-owned bank, plans to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether's USDT as collateral for loans, per TASS reporting the bank's stated intention. No timeline, loan-to-value ratios or regulatory approvals were disclosed. The plan surfaces days after the comment window closed on Russia's draft crypto framework — and gives USDT collateral status at a sanctioned state's flagship bank the same week EEA platforms complete their MiCA-driven removal of the token.

The OCC and FDIC issued a joint final rule defining "unsafe or unsound practice" — for decades an undefined supervisory term — requiring examiner objections to tie to material financial risk or legal violations rather than nonfinancial matters, and standardising Matters Requiring Attention. The rule doesn't mention crypto; industry groups read it as removing the discretionary lever behind past pressure on banks serving crypto firms. It takes effect 60 days after Federal Register publication; the Federal Reserve, with its own reputational-risk proposal outstanding, is not a party.