Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, has launched its own stablecoin, shortly after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, signed the country’s recent cryptocurrency law.
On August 4, it has been reported by a local news agency Kommersant that Sergey Popov, the Director of the Transaction Business at Sberbank, says that Russia’s banking giant is thinking of issuing its own stablecoin that could be pegged one-to-one to the Russian ruble.
However, according to the report, the potential stablecoin could be used for settlements involving other digital financial assets. Popov noted that Sberbank would be able to issue the token in accordance with the recently passed crypto law called “On Digital Financial Assets” (DFA).
Popov said:
“We probably may issue a stablecoin on the basis of the law that has been adopted recently. As we can peg this stablecoin to the ruble, this token could become a basis or an instrument for settlements involving other digital financial assets.”
As the news came soon after Vladimir Putin officially signed Russia’s DFA bill into law on July 31, Putin prohibited Russian residents from making payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) starting from January 1, 2021.
Russia’s state-owned bank @Sberbank is reportedly considering a ruble-pegged stablecoin https://t.co/oJSiUgUwOO — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) August 4, 2020
First initiated in 2018, the DFA law reportedly legalizes crypto-to-crypto exchanges, buying, and selling, as well as loans in crypto.
Sberbank is known for its crypto-related initiatives.
Thus, the bank was spending more than $100 million on 5,000 blockchain-enabled ATMs that are capable of mining crypto.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: The Moscow Times