The Russian central bank is considering putting mortgage records on Masterchain, a government-backed distributed accounting project that is now being tested with major banks.
A project already started
During an online meeting of the country's parliament, the State Duma, the first deputy head of the Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatove, said that a previously initiated proceeding on a decentralized deposit system for digital mortgage bonds was successful.
"We suggested the government to refine the project to the point where all types of transactions necessary for issuing digital mortgages can be executed on Masterchain," said Skorobogatova.
"This platform works and, without further ado, we can complete this development." The official also said that six Russian banks have tested Masterchain for the exchange of digital letters of credit, "and some others are ready to join."
Skorobogatova did not specify the names of any of the banks involved in this experiment, or entities that could participate in the pilot project on digital mortgages. Masterchain was launched in 2017 by the Fintech Association, which is supervised by the Bank of Russia.
The project includes participants such as Sberbank, Alfa Bank, VTB, Raiffeisenbank Russia and Otkritie, as well as the national settlement deposit and the federal land registry service, said Skorobogatova. The project had previously been criticized and called "disappointing" by the blockchain expert from Sberbank, the largest retail bank in Russia.
More projects coming soon
Skorobogatova said the Bank of Russia regulatory sandbox for distributed accounting projects has around 50 projects in the pipeline, some of which have already completed pilot projects.
"We tested two digital asset projects, one for hybrid tokens representing digital rights and goods and another for the tokenization of services," he said. "Both projects got the go-ahead from us and companies are waiting for regulations to be approved so they can be launched in Russia."
Again, the projects have not been named. Meanwhile, the Duma is preparing a bill for the first regulation of digital assets in Russia. The draft passed the first hearing (of the three requests) in early May and stood still until last week, when the second draft was submitted along with a package of other laws.
The new package proposes a procedure for the issuance of digital securities registered on the blockchain in Russia, while banning any cryptocurrency operation performed using servers and web domains based in Russia.
Cryptocurrencies are considered commodities in the new bill and should be reported for tax purposes. However, they cannot be legally sold in exchange for fiat. The project fully reflects the position of the Bank of Russia, which is in favor of blockchain securities, but does not believe that cryptocurrencies should be legal in the country.
In short, in Russia there is more and more talk of crypto. You as you trade your cryptocurrencies, you know platforms for automatic trading like Bitcoin Pro? Let us know in the comments what you think.
