The fourth quarter of the year should see the addition of a feature allowing users to create their own non-fungible tokens on the blockchain platform of Sberbank, according to the bank’s deputy chairman Anatoly Popov, who made the announcement at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
The senior executive went on to say that the major Russian bank intended to begin working on initiatives with museums, galleries, and perhaps sports organizations for NFT releases associated with contests and games.
Popov commented that this is something new for the bank and that it would first conduct some tests, as reported by the cryptocurrency website of the top Russian business news portal RBC. Due to the requirement to regulate content, the service will initially be restricted, he continued.
The largest bank in Russia by assets, Sberbank, developed its blockchain platform after receiving permission to issue digital financial assets from the Central Bank of Russia in March of this year. Currently solely available to legal businesses, the platform will soon give private persons access and the ability to issue, purchase, and sell digital financial assets (DFAs).
A little over a month later, businesses were given the option to issue DFAs certifying financial claims, buy assets issued on the platform, and conduct other transactions with them in accordance with Russian law. In January 2021, the “On Digital Financial Assets” law became operative. By the end of this year, the Moscow Exchange plans to list DFAs.
Popov admitted that, despite its limitations, there is a market for NFTs and pointed out that Russians have had success selling digital assets on other countries’ marketplaces. He also made the point that there are many questions that need to be addressed in light of the introduction of NFTs, particularly those pertaining to the information that the tokens represent.
Since the law currently only applies to coins that have an issuer, Russia has not yet fully regulated cryptocurrencies. The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, will study a new law “On Digital Currency” in the upcoming months. The Russian ruble should continue to be the only legal tender in the nation, according to the majority of government institutions, but there have been growing calls to allow the use of decentralized digital currencies in international trade.
