Sberbank, Interros Conclude Blockchain-Based Forex Repo Trade

According to Reuters Russia, the state-owned Russian banking company Sberbank and the Moscow-based private equity firm Interros Company have successfully concluded a foreign exchange buyback (repo) agreement using blockchain technology.

Sberbank executive Andrei Shemetov informed Reuters that the exchange was legally binding and was performed through the IT platform of the bank with the aid of smart contracts and digital signatures. Further information on the transaction was not released, but Shemetov revealed that it “corresponded to the interdealer repo transaction’s average volume.”

A Sberbank news issue demonstrated that the exchange was carried out with the Hyperledger Fabric platform and the smart contract was programmed in Go. Shemetov hopes that the utilization of blockchain for repo transactions has numerous advantages over conventional solutions.

“In the future, concluding deals through the blockchain platform will cut operational costs and reduce mistakes due to automation, as well as will increase transparency and trust between all participants of the financial market.”

Interros First Deputy CEO Olga Zinovieva said the firm is “glad that we have made the first step towards the digital future in partnership with Sberbank, the leader of the Russian banking segment.”

Sberbank CEO Herman Gref made headlines in mid – November after some of his comments were taken up by the Russian state news agency TASS. Gref noted at the time that the publicity around the blockchain had passed and it was presently in the industrial development phase. His opinion was it “will take a year or two to be applied on an industrial scale.”

The CEO has seemingly been bullish about the commercial potential of blockchain for a few years now. He was also a noticeable defender of crypto – currency and took steps to resist government crackdowns. However, due to the centralized function of the state, he does not essentially see a clear way for cryptography in Russia.

He pondered in October how cryptocurrencies do not have good futures for the coming decade because “it’s not likely that any state is ready to part with the centralized money supply model.”