Source: Adobe/prima91
Russian regulators seem to be accelerating the sacrifices of domestic companies to transform into local token exchanges: the Central Bank approved the request of banking and IT giant Sberbank to become an official transmitter of "digital financial assets" (DFA).
In January, Sberbank asked the Central Bank to give it the right to issue a stablecoin for its corporate service clients, but the new license will also allow Sberbank to offer services for trading "digital assets."
Two other companies, Interfax reported, have also received permits, namely fintech company Lighthouse, as Transmashholding (TMH), Russia's largest distributor of railway locomotives and equipment. The latter has been working for several months on what he called a "digital financial ecosystem" involving certain aspects of cryptography and blockchain.
The registration of DFA transmitting companies is not new in Russia. It has existed since January 1, two thousand twenty-one. But before the latest Central Bank ruling, only one company, the metals "tokenization" initiative Atomyze, had gotten a permit.
Sberbank, long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, initially expected to launch its stablecoin project in the spring of XNUMX, but then sought to change the nature of its offering.
However, the central bank has "repeatedly stated that there are more questions than answers when it comes to the issuance of stablecoins by banks," Interfax noted.
It is unclear, and not very likely at this stage, whether exchanges could be allowed to offer crypto trading features for assets like bitcoin (BTC). The banks did not mention this. But what is clear is that banks and fintech companies see this movement as an opportunity to at least start down the path of integrating tokens and blockchain.
Sergey Popov, head of Sberbank's Transactions business unit, was summoned saying:
“In a month, legal entities will be able to carry out the first operations on our blockchain platform. As we are early in our journey of working with digital assets, we realize that new developments will require changes to the existing regulatory framework. We are ready to work in close cooperation with regulators.
Meanwhile, reports circulated this week that central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina would step down. Nabiullina is a key ally of Vladimir Putin and has headed the Central Bank since XNUMX, having been economy and trade minister under Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev.
His order as ruler will expire this summer of this year. Mas Interfax also reported that Putin had put forward his candidacy for the State Duma, Russia's parliament. Under Russian law, the Duma must approve the appointment of the president. However, it will probably be a mere formality if Nabiullina admits the post, as the Duma is dominated by MPs from Putin's United Russia Party.
Yesterday, URA.ru reported that Kremlin spokesmen refused to answer questions about Nabiullina's whereabouts, after a week of speculation about her position and willingness to continue fighting the economic fires that international sanctions have triggered.
Central Bank staff reportedly worked in "exhausting psychological and physical conditions," but Nabiullina, the report noted, "urged his staff not to engage in political disputes at work, at home, and on social media." .