A few months after Russia’s top lender Sberbank received the trade Digital Financial Assets (DFAs) license, the firm’s subsidiary SberFactoring completed its first DFA transaction worth around 1 billion rubles ($16 million).
This action comes following the bank Board’s Deputy Chairman, Anatoly Popov’s statement that the first transaction will come within a month. He made this known sometime last month in an interview with TASS, a state-backed media.
With the license, Sberbank assured users of its use of blockchain technology and smart contracts to trade digital assets.
Meanwhile, Atomyze became the first Russian company licensed to trade digital assets. Besides, Atomyze trades metal-backed tokens as Digital Financial Assets.
Russia’s second-largest bank – VTB after announcing plans to trade digital assets also completed the first digital Ruble DFA trade sometime in June.
Meanwhile, Russia’s observation of cryptocurrency transactions remains ongoing as the authorities plan to introduce regulations soon.
Russia Mixed Crypto Signs
There have been mixed signals from the country about the legal status of cryptocurrencies.
A Russian lawmaker Anatoly Aksakov recently said the country’s largest stock exchange, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), has the potential of hosting a regulated crypto exchange.
In his words, “that division -which will work as part of a respected organization with great traditions and highly engaged in actively interacting with the central bank – will do an excellent job with the task of handling cryptocurrency operations.”
This is the polar opposite of what the Russian central bank has been saying about crypto. The bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina said “cryptocurrencies should not be traded on organized marketplaces because these assets are too volatile, too risky for potential investors.”
Meanwhile, the United States is pushing to further isolate Russia’s economy by urging Japan to shut crypto exchanges with links to the country. Russia has faced increased sanctions from the rest of the world because of its invasion of Ukraine.
However, despite the unclear status of crypto, Russians are actively trading cryptocurrencies through foreign exchanges.