Bank of Russia has introduced
Masterchain, an Ethereum-based Blockchain prototype. As stated in the
official report, the Masterchain platform was created to serve interests
of the financial market actors and is being tested.
Alexey Arkhipov, Head of Cryptotechnology Department at Qiwi says: “Masterchain is a unique ecosystem which allows connecting
financial institutions and creating smart contracts in one single
environment.”
Disruptive Blockchain
Masterchain is a tool built on the basis of distributed
ledger technology to ensure safe and secure communication between banks
and other financial institutions. The platform allows to quickly confirm
the relevance of customer’s data or information about transaction,
therefore accelerating the exchange of information between the parties
while ensuring the highest level of security and confidentiality in
financial transactions.
A number of country’s largest banks and financial
institutions took part in developing the Masterchain prototype,
including Sberbank, Alfa Bank, Bank Otkritie, Tinkoff Bank, and Qiwi.
Partners share belief in the ability of technology to revolutionize
financial industry.
Head of Innovations at the Bank Otkritie, Alexey Blagirev
said that rapid development of Blockchain technology suggested an
innovative method of communication between banks to receive the latest
information about customers and check it with partners if needed.
Nadezhda Avdanina, the head of innovation and technology
center at Alfa Bank shared her opinion: “It is a truly significant step
for banks, it shows that despite the high level of competition in the
financial and banking industry, banks drive towards increasing openness,
and making relationship with both customers and partners more
comfortable and secure. We are happy that Blockchain technology allowed
banks to cooperate and start joined projects aimed at industry
recovery.”
VP, CIO at Tinkoff Bank Viacheslav Tsyganov commented:
“The first transaction made to test the infrastructure that we are creating in collaboration with our partners proves the highest potential of Blockchain technology and its applicability in building communication channels between banks. Masterchain is universal, and its applicability is not limited to only building communication channels.”
Alexandr Anischenko, the Head of Business development at
Sinimex, a company that has been in charge of building a prototype,
emphasized the safety part of the platform: “All data is stored on
redistributed ledger and access to that data is granted only to those
owning a special key, what ensures the highest level of safety and
security. There's no chance that personal details of bank’s customers
would leave this system”.
New frontiers
Participation of Sberbank in developing and testing of the
prototype of redistributed financial system with Blockchain technology
at the core of it - is a significant step towards building a financial
infrastructure of a new generation.
Ekaterina Frolovicheva from IT Strategy Department at Sberbank commented:
“Blockchain already allows us managing identification
processes, significantly speeding up transactions and simplifying
decision making. Sberbank focuses on multiplatform development and
explores possibilities of creation of advanced products in convergent IT
environments.”
Olga Skorobogatova, the Deputy Chairperson at the Bank of Russia commented:
“Building prototypes and joining forces studying their
real-life application allows defining trajectories for future
development, evaluating potential of certain technological innovations,
as well as analyze possible risks of their application. And it is a good
basis for moving forward. Earlier the Bank of Russia initiated the
creation of special consortium to study financial technologies,
Masterchain will be further studied and tested among other projects ran
by the Consortium. There is a possibility that Masterchain will be soon
integrated as a part of the next-generation financial infrastructure.”
However, to integrate this solution into practice would
require major changes and revisions in the regulatory framework. Here we
turn our heads to policy makers.
Cryptomoney cause no harm
While Russia’s financial market giants are so enthusiastic
about exploration of Blockchain it seems that policy makers are ready to
turn a new page in the history of their relationship with bizarre
technologies and products of their application.
Thus, earlier this week, Alexey Moiseev,
Deputy Finance Minister said that use of Bitcoins and other
cryptocurrencies is no longer considered as a threat to the country’s
financial system. The authority made a decision to postpone drafting
regulations on cryptocurrencies in Russia.
Moiseev explained:
“The Ministry decided to wait and see how the situation is
going to develop. We can’t say that the use of cryptocurrencies is
harmful, but we can’t deny that it can become harmful in the future. We
are interested to see how other countries choose to regulate
cryptocurrencies.”
Until recently, Russian policy makers could not make up
their mind on how to deal with Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies.
State authorities repeatedly made suggestions to impose criminal
responsibility for the use of cryptocurrencies. However, as Moiseev
explained, the use of alternatives to traditional currencies in Russia
is still not so massive, therefore, there is no need for such harsh
measures. In July 2016, the Ministry of Finance suggested treating
cryptocurrencies as foreign currencies and allow operations with it.
The Russians are slow starters, but they drive fast. Who knows, maybe
it is the beginning of the Blockchain revolution in the country? While
many will roll their eyes, let us wait and see.