Sberbank, one of the largest banks in Russia, has announced it will open a blockchain lab to develop and test blockchain-based solutions.
The new lab aims to generate product prototypes, conduct pilot tests and implement blockchain-based business solutions for the Sberbank Group, a press release said. According to Igor Bulantsev, Senior Vice President of Sberbank, Blockchain can help reshape the Bank's financial market, as well as its activities and services.
Bulantsev said: "It's important to note that Blockchain helps market participants collaborate more efficiently. That's why Sberbank is making a contribution to the future of the banking industry and our country with the launch of the Blockchain Laboratory. "
Objective of the project:
The project will work with the bank's other labs to develop advanced technologies and plans to work with start-ups and other alliances. Sberbank's Blockchain lab will engage Blockchain specialists with experience in building and implementing ideas for existing products as well as new approaches to business activities.
The launch of the project comes one month after Sberbank CEO Herman Gref announced that the wider implementation of Blockchain in Russia could take up to ten years. He noted that Russia is "experimenting a lot" with Blockchain, adding that the bank will be launching some "big-scale" products this year.
In February of last year, Gref predicted that the use of distributed ledger technologies by banks and other established companies could take only two to two and a half years. Sberbank has launched a number of initiatives in the Blockchain ecosystem, including the recent entry into the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance - a corporate-focused consortium. Some of the Bank's blockchain-based pilot projects include joint solutions with Severstal and Federal Antimonopoly Services .