Russia’s Sber issues loan secured by DFA for the first time

Earlier, the bank was the first in Russia to provide a client with a guarantee using a smart contract

22.11.2023 - 13:03

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What’s new? Sberbank was the first bank in Russia to test the issuance of a loan with collateral in the form of digital financial assets (DFAs). The pilot was conducted to study client experience, the legal form, and mechanisms for implementing such a service. The bank’s representatives believe that DFAs as collateral allow for the design of more complex transactions tailored to the needs of a particular client.

Press release

What else is known? As part of the test, a loan secured by DFA was granted to Datsik Group, which owns the Omega shopping center in Togliatti.

“This is another step towards finding new niches for the use of the instrument such as DFA in the financial markets,” Sberbank stressed.

Earlier this month, Sberbank conducted the first transaction in the Russian Federation to provide a bank guarantee using a smart contract. The client received the service on the bank’s blockchain platform by initiating the smart contract using a transaction from his digital wallet.

In August, the bank was the first in Russia to issue a loan via DFA with collateral in the form of a real asset. In June, Sber opened accessto DFAs for individuals.

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Also in November, the Bank of Russia’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina supported the use of cryptocurrencies and DFAs in international settlements. Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, reported that in December the development of a law on the use of tokenized gold in foreign settlements will begin.

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