Concerning the latest reports, the Central Bank of Russia has finally completed the pilot test of its blockchain platform. Looks like the country has moved ahead than China which has doubled down its views on the future of blockchain technology.
Russia Makes a New Move
Noticeably, the Central Bank of Russia in late December 2019 proposed that the project will be a part of the regulatory sandbox. However, the latest local report notes the “successful completion” of a pilot of a blockchain platform. More so, the platform will be used to issue and move the “digital rights”. By doing so, the country will be able to digitize securities, goods, services and other assets as well.
Interestingly, this move is perceived as the potential opportunity to attract new capital as well as to create a new avenue for consumers to invest in. However, the platform will also enable companies and entities to issue their digital tokens. More so, the new project is said to be “one of the largest sandbox projects”. Concerning the matter, Director of Financial Technologies, Ivan Ban elaborated the platform also entertains hybrid tokens. He went on to say that;
An important detail of the service is the use of hybrid tokens, which make it easy to adapt to the needs of business and consumers and provide flexible solutions to attract investment. Based on the results of the piloting, the Bank of Russia proposed to include in the draft federal law “On Digital Financial Assets” the provisions necessary for the introduction and development of such decisions in the emerging digital assets market, which were supported by government agencies and businesses.
Also, the country is almost ready with the draft bill “On Digital Financial Assets”, the approval of which will pave the way for this platform to perform its activities. However, as per the other news outlet, RBC, the Central Bank of Russia is requesting banks to flag accounts as “suspicious” that are associated with crypto assets. Accordingly, the bank is to modify key “375-P protocol” that reportedly instruct banks how should they deal with money laundering cases.
While the proposal to amend protocol has to be approved by the Govt, it creates a sense of fear among the hundreds of thousands of the crypto enthusiasts in Russia.
Looking at the scenario, the bank’s focus could be to estimate the number of citizens involved in crypto activities in-country and by amending the protocol which has not been amended since 2012, the bank could bring crypto in money laundering case.