Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, plans to execute the first transfer of digital assets on its own dedicated platform within a month, a top executive revealed this week. The announcement follows the bank’s approval earlier this year to issue digital financial assets.
Sberbank is preparing to trade with digital financial assets on its own platform
Sberbank (Sber), Russia’s majority state-owned bank, plans to make its first transaction with digital financial assets (DFA) on a platform developed by the institution within a month, Tass News Agency reported. The news agency quoted Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of the Management Board of the banking and financial services company, as saying.
On the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the high-ranking official recalled that Sberbank, which accounts for about one-third of all Russian banking assets, wasadded this spring to the register of authorized information system operators issued by the Russian Central Bank’s DFA.
“Digital financial assets” is the current term in Russian law describing cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Additional legislation is underway, and a bill “On Digital Currency” proposed by the Ministry of Finance to comprehensively regulate the country’s crypto market is likely to be adopted at the fall session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
“We are closely watching the development of new technologies, including in the field of distributed ledgers. We are studying how blockchain technology will develop,” Popov commented.” There are currently many projects using them, at Sber, of course.”
The Sberbank vice chairman also noted that the bank’s digital asset platform has already passed acceptance tests; a press release issued in March indicated that DFAs will be issued and distributed through a platform built on blockchain technology It explains in detail.
Other firms will be allowed to use it to issue their own digital assets to attract investment. They will also be able to trade using DFA under the applicable regulations of the Russian Federation.
For now, the Law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which came into effect in January 2021, is the primary law regulating cryptocurrencies and tokens in Russia. It introduces rules governing activities such as issuing digital coins and raising funds through tokens, but does not yet regulate major operations with cryptocurrencies such as mining and trading.
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