In the blockchain sector, Sber is thriving hard. Sber is Russia’s biggest banking and financial institution. As well as one of the world’s largest public corporations. It ranks 51st on Forbes’ Global 2000 list.
Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of the executive board at Sber, told local news agency TASS that the bank intends to register its digital asset issuance platform with the Bank of Russia — the country’s central bank — by mid-September.
He further stated, Sber has started creating features that will enable other parties to issue digital assets. Moreover, this feature should be ready by the end of the year. He said the bank is focusing on the creation and administration of Sber’s digital financial assets for the time being.
As stated, Sber’s CEO, the Russian central bank, stays actively engaged with Sber on functions and criteria for the proposed digital asset offering.
According to one of Sber’s top executives,
“Based on the results of the last check of the platform, we received minor comments, which we eliminated, and sent an updated petition to the Bank of Russia.”
Ambition to Expand Into Digital Services
Popov also mentioned, Sber recently submitted an updated platform application to the Bank of Russia. It is based on the feedback from the institution.
Last year, the state-owned company was renamed “Sber” by Sberbank. This was done to highlight its ambition to expand into digital services and showcase itself as a technology leader rather than a pure banking institution.
The firm approached the Bank of Russia earlier this year. In order to create a blockchain platform for its stablecoin, Sbercoin, but the central bank has been emphatic about private enterprises creating ruble-pegged stablecoins.
Sber has taken a hostile stance against private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Thus reflecting the position of the country’s central bank towards them.