Sberbank executive Konstantin Klimenko announced that the bank’s DeFi technology will be available for commercial use from the end of April.
Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is moving ahead with the launch of its decentralized finance (DeFi) platform and is getting ready to test the offering in the next months.
According to Konstantin Klimenko, the product head of Sberbank’s Blockchain Lab, the DeFi platform will begin open trials by May 2023, local news outlet Interfax reported on February 3.
Sberbank’s new DeFi platform, which is now being evaluated in private beta, will be completely open by the end of April, enabling customers to carry out the first commercial transactions, Klimenko added.
The CEO mentioned that the Ethereum blockchain will be interoperable with the blockchain platform’s blockchain, enabling users to shift their assets using popular wallets like MetaMask.
Users will be able to transfer their assets from other platforms, according to Klimenko. According to the blockchain executive, Sberbank’s DeFi platform seeks to establish itself as a leading DeFi ecosystem in Russia.
He also expressed confidence in the ability of DeFi systems to supplant the established banking services sector. The declaration is consistent with Sberbank’s earlier plans to make DeFi applications available on the bank’s infrastructure.
Sberbank unveiled a number of new capabilities for its proprietary blockchain technology in November 2022, including support for Ethereum network applications and smart contracts.
Because Russia has not yet developed regulations for digital currencies, it appears to be unclear how the planned site will be controlled. The head of the Duma’s Committee on Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, asserts that Russia would “certainly” adopt cryptocurrency rules in 2023.
As was previously mentioned, due to several registration delays by the Russian central bank, Sberbank has had difficulty launching some blockchain products during the past few years.
Sberbank eventually received the Bank of Russia’s license in the spring of 2022, after initially planning to begin its digital asset issuing platform in 2021. Sberbank’s primary shareholder, with a 50% + 1 share holding, is the Russian government.
On February 2, Alfa Bank, one of the biggest private banks in Russia, joined Sberbank, the government-backed tokenization platform Atomyze, and fintech firm Lighthouse as the fourth financial institution authorized to issue digital assets in the nation.