- Currently, there are five companies registered as licensed digital asset issuers in Russia
- Platform features
- Crypto regulation in Russia
According to Russian law, digital financial assets can only be issued by licensed operators. A new entry has been made to the register of such operators. Masterchain has become the fifth operator that can legally tokenize fiat assets and trade them.
Currently, there are five companies registered as licensed digital asset issuers in Russia
A company named Distributed Registry Systems has established the Masterchain platform and become a digital system operator. The new service can be used for issuing digital financial assets (DFAs).
The company was established in April 2021 and initially focused on developing blockchain solutions for such industries as finance, transport, and logistics. The company was co-founded by the Moscow Exchange, the Fintech Association, and a number of large Russian banks.
Platform features
Masterchain allows its users to issue virtual tokens for the rights to monetary claims in the form of unsecured bonds and instruments linked to certain assets. The options of issuing other DFAs will be added later.
The Credit Bank of Moscow has already used the service to issue Russia’s first digital bank guarantee in yuan.
Crypto regulation in Russia
In 2021, the law “On Digital Financial Assets” was adopted in Russia. It covered the DFAs that have an issuer. In February 2023, the State Duma adopted a new bill in its first reading. It will allow financial platform operators to establish their own blockchain platforms.
According to current legislation, crypto cannot be used as legal tender by Russian residents but it has been recognized as property. This means that digital financial assets can be traded but cannot be used to pay for goods and services.
What is at issue here is not a crypto ban. On the contrary, cryptocurrencies are regarded as a means for facilitating payments with counterparties that has great potential. The register of authorized DFA issuers is aimed at implementing foreign transactions.
