Russia's Crypto Regulatory Sandbox

The relevant authorities in the country have announced what has been referred to as a "regulatory sandbox". The regulatory sandbox would welcome various entities that develop and launch innovative services which their regulations might require certain changes in the regulatory sphere. The sandbox announced in Russia will act as a platform that will be used to model the process of application and use of these financial technologies and products. As announced by the Central Bank of the country, check on the use and positive impacts it might have on the country would be carried out. The Central Bank also revealed that the results from the check will determine if they will continue to implement this or not in the future. The Central Bank went further to reveal that organizations that would be seeking to implement a financial service in the future would have to create a pilot on the sandbox. Also, they would have to submit an application to the Central Bank, in this application, this company would have to carefully inform them on the various advantages of this new financial service to the participants of the market as well as also offering them the impact the product will have on the country's financial market.

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Tha announcement of this regulatory sandbox is in line with the major financial technology priority the Central Bank of Russia has prepared itself for beginning from the year 2018 to 2020. The Central Bank of this country prior to this time has planned to completely transform the digital environment of the country for financial services through the development and launch of an infrastructure. This infrastructure will include a platform that will act as a marketplace for the buying and selling of financial services and products. Also, a new platform that would help in the registration of all financial transactions and that would be based on DLT will also be needed.

It is important to note that despite the stance of the Central Bank of Russia on cryptocurrencies in general, it has become more open to the application and use of the blockchain technology. Most experts are of the opinion that the stance of the Central Bank of Russia on the amazing blockchain technology is greatly influenced by Dmitry Medvedev the country's Prime Minister. This is because Medvedev for a long time has been a strong proponent of the blockchain technology. This announcement is also in line with the President's aim to amend certain legislation to ensure that the country is open to the newest trends in the financial technology world. This was revealed in the annual president chat that happened earlier this month.

Organizations and financial institutions in the country are already taking full advantage of this sandbox as Sberbank and Alfa Bank two of the top banks on the country are seeking to offer retail investor crypto-based funds. This new partnership that these two top banks have entered will see institutional and retail investors in the country benefit immensely from it.