Russia’s Sberbank carried out the first digital asset issue on its platform
Russia’s major lender Sberbank said on Saturday it had conducted the first digital financial asset transaction on its own platform, with its subsidiary SberFactoring carrying out an issue of 1 billion rubles ($16 million) with a maturity of three months.
The Bank of Russia has long expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies but is more open to other digital assets and has granted blockchain platform Atomys Russia the first license to exchange digital assets.
2 lender VTB and fintech company Lighthouse conducted the country’s first cash-backed digital financial asset transaction in late June.
Sberbank, which received its license in March, said in a statement that digital assets are issued on its platform using blockchain technology and smart contracts.
Sberbank’s platform will soon be available to all corporate customers of the bank.
Russia is working on improving oversight of cryptocurrency transactions and may begin introducing regulation of the industry later this year, officials said this week.