Russian Bank to launch its DeFi platform by May

• Russia’s biggest banking institution, Sberbank, is on track to launch its decentralized finance (DeFi) platform by May.
• In December 2021, Sberbank’s investment arm announced the launch of the first blockchain ETF in the country.

Russia’s biggest banking institution, Sberbank, is on track to launch its decentralized finance (DeFi) platform by May, reported the Russian news agency Interfax.

Konstantin Klimenko, Product Director of Sberbank’s Blockchain Laboratory, says that the Russian majority-owned bank intends to roll out the project in stages.

Klimenko stated Sberbank’s mission of making Russia the leading nation in DeFi operations at the 7th Perm Economic Congress held yesterday (3 February).

He then addressed the audience about the blockchain project, stating that it was currently in closed beta testing, with open testing set to begin in March.

Klimenko added that beginning 1 March the bank will no longer be in beta testing but will instead be in open testing in the next phase.

The platform will be fully operational by the end of April, and some commercial operations will be possible over it.

Sberbank’s DeFi platform would initially support only the MetaMask wallet. Furthermore, it intends to integrate itself with the Ethereum blockchain, allowing for the seamless transfer of smart contracts and other projects within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Sberbank not New to the blockchain technology

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank is also the third largest bank in Europe, with assets under management worth $559 billion in 2021.

However, it is not the first time that the bank is entering the blockchain industry. In March 2022, the Russian central bank granted the enterprise a license to operate as a digital asset exchange, allowing the platform to issue its own digital token.

Earlier in December 2021, Sberbank’s investment arm, Sber Asset Management, announced the launch of the first blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the country.

This fund exposes investors to the portfolios of leading blockchain companies such as Coinbase and Galaxy Digital while protecting them from the severe effects of market volatility in the crypto industry.