Several countries and individuals have made cryptocurrencies a part of their economy with worldwide reach. For the past few months, Russia has been one of the most important players in the field with the country see-sawing on crypto-regulations.
Recently, Russia was again in the news when its government allowed Vladimir Potanin, the richest man in the country to launch his own blockchain platform.
Citizens will be able to buy air tickets, metals and even switch ski passes from Vladimir Potanin’s businesses with the launch of Potanin’s cryptocurrency, Atomyze.
The news of the token came a week after the FSB stated that they would ban cryptocurrencies from within the country. Potanin also said that he had plans to develop a cryptocurrency for multiple features in the future.
The Bank of Russia sending a green signal to Atomyze sends a confusing message to the masses, but that did not stop Potanin from making progress on his plans. The billionaire believed that his platform would encourage other Russian corporate giants to develop their own native blockchains and tokens.
According to reports, the Central Bank had tested Atomyze for the past four months, leading to a guarantee in its workings.
Marco Grossi, the CEO of Atomyze stated:
“The main idea of tokenization is not in buying or trading cryptocurrencies; it lies in the creation of a modern and transparent mechanism for digitizing of assets, and in the creation of new digital markets, where tokenization is a service helping issuers transfer rights to their assets into a digital form.”
Sources have also said that Potanin’s mining company, Norilsk Nickel will become the first to test out the tokens. The tokens are expected to be backed by copper, cobalt and palladium. Some of the other companies in the pipeline to test the cryptocurrency were Trafigura Group, Umicore SA and Traxys SA.
The platform will be available in the US and Switzerland but will be limited to companies and not to individuals. The official launch is expected to be around the end of this year due to a delay in the proper cryptocurrency regulations.
Potanin’s trust in crypto was evident because a fifth of Norilsk Nickel’s 2019 sales came from cryptocurrency tokens. The oligarch praised the country’s work and even exclaimed that Russia was, to some extent, ahead of many other jurisdictions.
He rejoiced in the fact that the Russian Central Bank gave him and wide mandate and vowed to make it a platform that can be easily used. Tokens backed by metals can be swapped for physical supplies where customers can use tokens to sell spare volumes to someone else.
Token holders will also be allowed to purchase Nordstar airline and ski passes at Potanin’s Rosa Khutor resort in Sochi. On an enterprise level, companies will be able to pay Norilsk Nickel through the Atomyze platform.
Other cryptocurrency enthusiasts in the country are now waiting to see if the government will reverse the ban decision because of Potanin’s influence.