Between the gains that bitcoin has seen in the last few weeks to the industry’s newly-found institutional support, it seems that there is no stopping the progress of cryptocurrency. One of the ways in which this progress has manifested is the renewed interest in stablecoins.
JP Morgan launched its own stablecoin back in 2020 and several countries are developing their own national stablecoins. Now, it seems that more financial institutions are following in JP Morgan’s footsteps as Sberbank, a top bank in Russia is on track to launch its own stablecoin by the springtime.
The Upcoming Stablecoin
This development is significant because Sberbank is the largest state-owned bank in Russia and a stabelcoin from them will likely see very widespread use. As per recent reports, Sberbank has filed an application with the Bank of Russia to launch its own Sbercoin. This was then confirmed by Sergey Popov, the director of the transaction business at Sberbank, to the local Russian media.
At an event titled “Digital transformation and prospects for regulating the digital economy,” Popov stated that the application had been filed early in January, and considering the fact that such applications are usually approved in 45 days, the token should be available by spring 2021.
However, the bank is trying to figure out the taxation system of the proposed token.
“There is a high probability that this project will be launched in the spring. There is one more issue that has not yet been fully resolved, which is connected to the taxation of digital financial assets. But we hope that this question will be resolved soon,” Popov said.
The issue of tax and cryptocurrency is a complex one as countries have, for years, been trying to figure out a comprehensive and effective taxation strategy for cryptocurrency use. Popov has already clarified that the bank is willing to work with fiat currencies and that an internal solution has been developed and tested.
This comes after there was long-running speculation about whether or not the bank would be launching a stablecoin. The news was eventually confirmed in November 2020 just a few weeks before the “On Digital Financial Assets” crypto law was passed by the Russian government.
From all indications, it appears that Russia is gearing up to be a greater pro-crypto hub in the coming years.
