- Sberbank Aims To Have Own DeFi Platform Up And Running By May
- The goal of the Sberbank DeFi platform is to enable the continued expansion of the Russian ecosystem, Klimenko.
- The blockchain platform will be based on the Ethereum network, with users accessing the platform through the Metamask extension that has been present within the Sberbank digital ecosystem since December.
According to a report from the Russian news agency Interfax, Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is planning to launch its own decentralized finance (DeFi) platform on the Ethereum network.
From the report, Interfax says that the bank intends to debut the DeFi system “before May this year” and execute open testing in March. The product director of Sberbank’s Blockchain Laboratory, Konstantin Klimenko, made the development public. According to Klimenko, the goal of the Sberbank DeFi platform is to enable the continued expansion of the Russian ecosystem.
The product is currently being tested in private beta. The upcoming DeFi platform is expected to be fully open by the end of April, after which users can conduct the first commercial transactions.
“As of March 1, we are moving into the next phase, and it will no longer be beta testing but open testing. At the end of April, the platform will be fully open, and it will be possible to carry out various commercial operations on it.”
Sberbank Is No Stranger To Blockchain Technology
Notably, this is not the first foray for the largest bank in Russia into the world of blockchain technology and the digital asset space. In the summer of 2022, Sberbank completed its first digital transaction before launching its crypto in April of the same year.
In December 2021, Sberbank’s investment arm, Sber Asset Management, revealed the launch of the first blockchain-themed exchange-traded fund (ETF). The company’s blockchain-focused ETF, dubbed ‘Sberbank-Blockchain Economy,’ enabled tracking of the identically named index developed by the banks’ asset management subsidiary SberCIB.
The fund provides the country resident’s investors access to a diversified portfolio of key blockchain firms like Galaxy Digital and Coinbase, among others. Additionally, it monitors crypto mining platforms’ performance, facilitating consulting services in the blockchain ecosystem.
Citing Sber Asset Management CEO Evgeny Zaitsev during a press release:
“Direct investments in crypto assets are associated with high risks, so dealing with them on your own is difficult. We offer to invest not in crypto assets but in platforms focused on developing blockchain technologies.”
With the latest development, the Russian financial institution will explore the DeFi world further, launching its decentralized finance platform. The blockchain platform will be based on the Ethereum network, with users accessing the platform through the Metamask extension that has been present within the Sberbank digital ecosystem since December.
Klimenko also assured that users could transfer their assets from other platforms.
It is worth mentioning that Sberbank is the largest financial institution in Russia, with CoinDesk noting that it records over 110 million customers and 1 million corporate clients.
Speaking during an Economic Congress on Friday, February 3, Klimenko highlighted his belief in the potential for DeFi to “displace traditional banking service in the future,” adding that Sberbank’s DeFi platform aims to become a prime DeFi ecosystem in Russia.
The news aligns with Sberbank’s previously revealed plans to integrate DeFi applications into the bank’s infrastructure. In November 2022, the largest bank in Russia announced new features for its exclusive blockchain platform, including compatibility with smart contracts and Ethereum-based applications.
Nevertheless, no clarity has been provided concerning how the upcoming platform will be regulated, as Russia still needs to establish digital currency regulation. Citing the country’s head of the Duma’s Committee on Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, however, “Russia will adopt crypto regulations in 2023.”
Russia’s Struggles With Blockchain
It is imperative to note that Russia’s Sberbank has struggled to introduce some blockchain tools in the past several years because of multiple delays around registration by the Russian central bank. The initial plan was to launch its digital asset issuance platform in 2021, but due to delays, Sberbank received approval from the Bank of Russia in the spring of 2022. The majority shareholder in Sberbank is the Russian government, which holds 50%+1 shares.
On February 2, one of the largest private banks in Russia, Alfa Bank, became the fourth financial institution in the country to secure licensing and, therefore, permission to issue digital assets alongside Sberbank. Others include the state-backed tokenization platform Atomyze and the fintech company Lighthouse.
