Russia’s First Digital Financial Assets Expected This Year, Lawmaker Says – Finance Bitcoin News

A high ranking parliamentarian said that the first Russian-based digital assets could be released as soon as this year. Anatoly Ashakov, head of the Financial Market Committee, at the State Duma (the lower Russian parliament), said that three platforms have been registered as issuers.

Russian Digital Financial Assets Likely to Appear by Year’s End

Authorized Russian blockchain platforms may issue their first digital financial assets (DFAs) by the end of 2022, according to the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing Russia’s financial sector, Anatoly Aksakov.

Speaking during the Moscow Academic Economic Forum, Aksakov noted that Russia is now actively working in this field after adopting the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which went into force in January 2021. DFA, the Russian term that covers cryptocurrencies within the Russian law is called.

The Russian deputy revealed that three platforms — developed by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, Transmashholding, and Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank — are already registered as DFA issuers. Two more will soon be approved. Russian media quoted Aksakov as saying:

It is possible that the first digital assets for money will be released as early as this year. They will then become the foundation of financial settlements using the blockchain.

These DFAs could be used to settle financial matters and provide units of account for economic relationships with subsidiaries and partners. “This is, to a certain extent, an alternative to those financial settlements that today exist on the basis of the dollar or the euro or other currencies,” he elaborated.

Anatoly Ashakov stated that the Russian government is in favor of legalizing the market for digital assets through strict regulation. A new bill has been prepared to accomplish this. He was referring to the law “On Digital Currency” drafted by the Ministry of Finance, which is yet to be submitted to the State Duma.

Russia has been stepping up efforts to adopt rules for its digital assets space and this bill should expand the legal framework for the sector, which was only partially regulated with the law “On Digital Financial Assets.” While the finance ministry favors regulating cryptocurrencies along with other digital assets, the Central Bank of Russia remains opposed to their legalization in the country.

What do you think about Russian companies employing DFAs to settle with foreign partners? Comment 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.