Financial Companies Report First Deal With Digital Assets Under Russian Law – Finance Bitcoin News

Two companies have carried out Russia’s first transactions with digital financial assets as defined by the country’s current legislation. It involved tokenizing debt from a third party, and then its acquisition.

Russian companies issue and place digital financial assets

VTB Factoring (a Russian state-owned subsidiary of Vneshtorgbank) and Lighthouse, the fintech company Lighthouse announced their first transactions to issue and place digital financial assets. This is Russian law’s broad term that covers all types of digital assets (including cryptocurrencies) until specific legislation is developed.

As part of the deal, commercial debt from an unidentified issuer was first tokenized on the platform of Lighthouse, a registered “information system operator” authorized to issue and transact with DFAs, and then VTB Factoring bought the digital assets, the companies detailed in a press release.

Working with DFAs can help parties reduce time to obtain financing. It also allows them to take advantage of lower transaction costs. This reduces overall costs. Anton Musatov (CEO of VTB Factoring) elaborated:

Contrary to the traditional factoring process, commercial debt assignment does not require the client to sign a service agreement. A DFA can be issued by the issuer. [obtain] the factor’s consent to purchase it.

This news about the DFA success comes shortly after Lighthouse and Tinkoff Business announced, in early June the creation of an online platform that facilitates digital asset transfers. This platform will enable large- and medium-sized companies to use blockchain technology for funding.

Later in the month, deputy chairman of the management board of Sberbank Anatoly Popov unveiled that the first DFA deal on a platform developed by Russia’s largest bank will take place within a month. Sber (also known as the State-owned Financial Institution) accounts for about three quarters of Russia’s bank assets. It is also registered to operate information systems and authorized to issue digital financial assets.

The developments in the DFA space come as Russian authorities are working to expand the country’s regulatory framework to more comprehensively regulate decentralized digital assets such as bitcoin as they are only partially covered by the existing law “On Digital Financial Assets.” A new bill “On Digital Currency,” designed to achieve that, should be reviewed by Russian lawmakers in September.

Are you expecting more deals and transactions with Russian digital assets? Please leave your comments below.

Lubomir Tassav

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.