Legal Framework for Tokenization Submitted to Russia's Crypto Bill

A successful tokenization trial could lead to big changes in Russia's proposed cryptocurrency legislation.

The Central Bank of Russia announced on Feb. 17 the completion of a blockchain tokenization pilot using a platform developed by Nornickel within its regulatory sandbox.

The bank subsequently proposed to amend Russia's digital assets law to accommodate tokenization platforms.

The platform is open to all organizations and it allows them to issue hybrid tokens backed by a basket of assets.

"Following the results of the pilot program, the Central Bank of Russia proposed amendments for the federal bill project 'On digital financial assets' that are required to integrate and develop these solutions on the growing digital asset market."

The platform was developed by Nornickel, one of the largest mining companies in the world.

The corporation previously developed the platform to tokenize palladium, and began testing a digital asset trading platform in December 2019.

In January 2018, the Russian parliament began work on a bill regulating the usage of digital assets.

Though Russia's new Prime Minister identified the digital economy as one of the government's key priorities, progress is not uniform.

Alongside the complex decision-making process, several ministries and the central bank were reportedly considering a ban of cryptocurrency for payments in November, as well as plans for a legal framework to "Confiscate" Bitcoin.