• Sberbank, Russia’s biggest banking institution, is on track to launch its decentralized finance (DeFi) platform by May 2021.
• In December 2021, Sberbank’s investment arm announced the launch of the first blockchain ETF in the country.
• The DeFi platform will initially support only the MetaMask wallet and will be integrated with the Ethereum blockchain for seamless transfers of smart contracts and other projects.
Sberbank Launches Decentralized Finance Platform
Russia’s biggest banking institution, Sberbank, is on track to launch its decentralized finance (DeFi) platform by May. Konstantin Klimenko, Product Director of Sberbank’s Blockchain Laboratory, announced at the 7th Perm Economic Congress held yesterday that closed beta testing has already begun and open testing will start in March. By April end, commercial operations over the platform could begin.
Integration With MetaMask Wallet
The DeFi platform would initially support only the MetaMask wallet and intends to integrate itself with Ethereum blockchain, allowing for the seamless transfer of smart contracts and other projects within Ethereum ecosystem.
Sberbank’s History in Blockchain Technology
Russia’s largest bank also holds third rank in Europe when it comes to assets under management worth $559 billion in 2021. This isn’t the first time that Sberbank is entering into blockchain industry as it had received a license from Russian Central Bank back in March 2022 to operate as digital asset exchange.
Launch Of First Blockchain ETF
In December 2021 itself, Sberbank’s investment arm -Sber Asset Management- announced launching of first blockchain ETF in Russia which exposes investors to portfolio of leading blockchain companies such as Coinbase and Galaxy Digital while protecting them from severe effects of market volatility.
Conclusion
Thus we can conclude that Sberbank is all set to revolutionize Russian economy by introducing latest technologies like DeFi and Blockchain ETFs backed up with strong financial services.