Russia’s Rosbank traded digital gold for digital rubles

According to a press release published by the bank, this is the first transaction of this kind in the Russian Federation, employing distributed ledger technology and the digital ruble

Moscow-headquartered Rosbank has eased the purchase of digital gold with central bank digital currency (CBDC). The operation was done on the blockchain platform made by Atomyze, one of the many issuers of digital financial assets (DFAs) authorized by the Bank of Russia.

As per a PR published by the bank, this is the first transaction of its kind in the Russian Federation, using distributed ledger technology and the digital ruble. The latter is still under development and testing with a full launch anticipated in 2024.

In order to issue or invest in digital financial assets, interested parties have to open an account on a dedicated platform.

Once a trade offer for a digital asset is accepted, the purchaser settles with the investor in digital rubles, Rosbank clarified about the procedure and added: This transaction shows the increasing interest in digital financial assets and the requirement for reliable and secure solutions for these transactions, including the ability to pay for them with a new form of the Russian national currency, the digital ruble.

We are delighted to have played an important role in this successful digital gold deal, providing synergy between two innovative projects based on distributed ledgers, the digital financial assets platform and the digital ruble platform, said Olga Makhova, director of innovation and data analysis at Rosbank.

The Central Bank of Russia has thus far added four entities to its register of organizations permitted to issue digital financial assets. Apart from the tokenization service Atomyze, these also include the fintech company Lighthouse and Russia’s biggest state-owned and private banks, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank.

At present, the issuing of digital financial assets is regulated by the law ‘On Digital Financial Assets’ which went into force in January, 2021. In December last year, Sberbank’s platform was used to issue gold-based digital financial assets for the first time. They represent a monetary claim, the obligations for which depend on physical gold’s price.

More than a dozen banks and other financial institutions are taking part in the pilot phase of the digital ruble project. However, analysts recently predicted that commercial banks in Russia may lose up to 50 billion rubles a year (more than $700 million) when it is introduced. Gazprombank urged this week for a gradual implementation of the central bank digital currency to permit the financial system to adapt.