Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is working on carrying out the first transfer of crypto assets using its own platform in a month, according to a top executive. This news comes after the bank announced it had received authorization to issue digital financial assets earlier this year. 

Sberbank Readying for the First Deal with Crypto Assets on Its Proprietary Platform

Russian majority state-owned bank Sberbank (Sber) is going to perform the pioneer transaction with digital financial assets (DFAs) using a platform it created, according to Tass. The news agency quoted Anatoly Popov, the deputy chairman of the management board of the banking and financial services company. 

When speaking to the press on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the executive said that Sber, which holds about 1/3 of all bank assets in the country, had already been added to the Central Bank of Russia’s register of information system operators permitted to issue DFAs this spring. 

According to Russian law, digital financial assets include both cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, such as non-fungible tokens and stable coins. Additional legislation is also on the way, with “On Digital Currency” proposed by the Ministry of Finance underway. This legislation is targeting to regulate the crypto market in the country and could be adopted in the fall season of the State Dima. 

Popov said that they are “watching the development of new technologies, including in the field of distributed ledgers. We are studying how blockchain technologies are developing.”

According to the deputy chairperson, the platform for the digital assets has already passed the tests required for acceptance. In a press release released in March, DFAs will be issued and circulated via the platform designed using blockchain technology.

Other firms will also be allowed to use the platform for issuing their own assets to attract investments. Also, they will be able to make transactions with DFAs in line with the Russian Federation laws. 

At the moment, the law governing DFAs that came into force in 2021 is the main legislation regulating tokens and cryptos. Although it introduced rules for activities related to digital coins issuance and fundraising via tokens, the main operations with cryptocurrencies like mining and trading are not regulated in the country.