Sberbank CIB, in partnership with the National Settlement Depository (NSD), intends to conduct their first official domestic initial coin offerings (ICO). The issuer will be the company Level One, which manages the largest commercial lecture in Moscow.
According to their announcement, the firms intend to hold the ICO in a platform launched by the Central Bank. It involves a special regime of light regulation, in which innovative companies can test new technologies in a limited environment without the risk of violating legislation.
Financial details of the placement have not been disclosed. It is only known that Level One tokens will be sold in exchange for Russian rubles and only to qualified investors. The funds received will be then used to create new services, while investors will be able to use them by paying with purchased tokens.
"Sberbank CIB considers the Russian ICO market to be very promising. Many Sberbank clients are interested in this type of investment, and we plan to promote this service proactively once the appropriate legislative framework comes into effect; we will be one of the drivers to institutionalize and popularize this type of transaction," - Igor Bulantsev, senior vice president of Sberbank and head of Sberbank CIB said.
The first deal using tokenized assets is planned to be implemented by the end of summer 2018. Sberbank CIB will be responsible for the issue and will be the anchor investor of Level One produced tokens. NSD will be engaged in the storage of digital assets, including their registration and accounting.
Earlier, the first blockchain-based bond transaction was conducted in Russia. Sberbank CIB (MICEX: SBER), the corporate investment arm of Russia’s largest bank, MTS (MICEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications operator in country, and the National Settlement Depository (NSD) have issued ruble-denominated commercial bonds through smart contracts.
By Ekaterina Ulyanova