Russia’s largest bank Sber, formerly known as Sberbank, continues to develop its blockchain platform by integrating it with the Ethereum blockchain.
The 30th of November, Sber officially announced new opportunities for its proprietary blockchain platform, including support for smart contracts and applications on the Ethereum network.. This would allow developers to move smart contracts and entire projects between the Sber blockchain and public blockchain networks, the bank said.
Sber’s latest additions also bring integration with leading software cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask, which is used to interface with the Ethereum blockchain. The integration allows users to perform operations with tokens and smart contracts placed on the Sber blockchain platformsays the ad.
“Sber Blockchain Lab works closely with third-party developers and partner companies, and I am glad that our community will be able to run DeFi applications on Sber’s infrastructure,” said head of blockchain lab Alexander Nam. Noting that the new integrated features will help Sber to unite developers, companies and financial institutions to explore practical business applications of blockchain, Web3 and decentralized finance.
As previously reported, Sberbank has been actively developing blockchain products in recent years, applying to the Bank of Russia to launch a blockchain platform for its stablecoin “Sbercoin” in early 2021.. After receiving central bank approval in the spring of 2022, Sber finally announced its first digital currency operation in June. Sber’s majority shareholder is the Russian government, which owns 50% + 1 of the shares.
Sber’s announcement came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a blockchain-based open settlement network.. He criticized the monopoly of global financial payment systems, expressing confidence that digital currency-based technology will boost bank independence. At the same time, Putin’s government does not allow its citizens to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, and in early 2020 it completely banned Bitcoin (BTC) payments.
At the end of November, Russian lawmakers also discussed possible legal amendments for the government to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange. This effort is reportedly supported by both the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia, which are known for having a major disagreement when it comes to regulating the local cryptocurrency market.
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