Gold-Based Digital Assets Issued in Russia

Built by Sber, Russia’s largest banking institution Blockchain platform, used to issue digital assets based on gold. The value of tokenized precious metals will depend on the actual price of gold, the bank said, emphasizing that the operation is the first of its kind.

Russia’s Sber Bank mints gold-backed coins

Russia’s largest bank Sber creates gold-based digital financial assets on its own blockchain (DFA) issued. The coin was minted for his Solfer, a holding specializing in the processing and trading of metals and the manufacture of products from precious metals.

Russia’s Digital Financial Assets Law, which came into effect in January 2021, allows companies to tokenize various assets. Sber Bank, along with Atomyze and Lighthouse, is one of three “information systems operators” authorized by the Bank of Russia to issue his DFA. The latter this year he conducted his first DFA issue for Russia in June.

DFAs issued against gold represent a monetary claim on assets, Sber explained. Its price and associated obligations are subject to gold price dynamics, the bank detailed in its announcement, noting that this is the first transaction of its kind on the blockchain.

“We were drawn to the new digital form of gold and decided to try new ways to diversify the company’s balance sheet…The new form of investment in precious metals was announced by Solfer CEO Maxim Nazhmetdinov said:

“This deal demonstrates market and real sector interest in new instruments that could be a good alternative to investment in the de-dollarization of the economy.” ,” emphasized Alexander Vediakin, Vice Chairman of Sber’s Board of Directors.

Russia, pushed by sanctions over the war in Ukraine, is preparing to expand the DFA legal framework to also cover decentralized cryptocurrencies. While there is general consensus against the free circulation of bitcoin within the country, the government is considering legalizing cryptocurrency payments in international payments.

Sber plans to expand his DFA product line in the future to attract more corporate customers to the blockchain platform. According to Vedyakhin’s previous statement, the bank also plans to allow individuals to use blockchain for digital asset transactions in the spring of 2023.

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