The Russian central bank has approved the request of Vladimir Potanin, the richest man in the country, to create a crypto token for his metal blockchain.
Potanin’s Crypto Token Has Several Use Cases
Vladimir Potanin, the richest man in Russia, applied to the country’s apex bank to create a cryptocurrency token for his metal blockchain. The platform and token, known as Atomyze, will come with various use cases, according to a report by The Moscow Times.
The report revealed that the cryptocurrency token would enable people to purchase metals, book plane tickets, and transfer ski passes from Potanin’s businesses. This latest development comes after the Russian billionaire received the approval to create a token for his blockchain platform.
Potanin had originally been making plans to create a cryptocurrency token for his metal business. However, he decided to expand its reach and cover the other consumer aspects of his empire. The country’s central bank approved his request last week, and the company will start working on tokenizing its business. The blockchain network will help speed up transactions and reduce the amount of paperwork and interactions between the companies and their customers.
In a recent interview, Potanin stated that, “To some extent, Russia appears ahead of many other jurisdictions in terms of digitalization. The central bank gave us a very wide mandate.”
The commodities industry has been making strides in recent years to digitize its trading systems, with the help of blockchain technology. The digitization of activities will help companies reduce costs and administrative duties, and they will also be able to track materials via the supply chain effectively.
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have also gained numerous uses in other areas, such as car rentals, voting on soccer decisions and more. However, blockchain technology is yet to gain a large-scale adoption in the country.
Atomyze To Be Made Available in the US and Switzerland
Asides Russia, the platform called Atomyze, would be available in the US and Switzerland. However, it will only be used by companies and not individuals. The platform will go live by the end of the year, when a Russian law on digital financial assets becomes effective, and the company’s board gives further approval.
Potanin is mostly focused on the effect of blockchain technology on his metal business. Last year, he stated that the crypto tokens could account for about a fifth of the sales at Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest palladium and refined nickel producer.
In the beginning, Norilsk Nickel will test tokens backed by palladium, copper, and cobalt. However, Atomyze intends to expand to other tokens as time goes on. According to their report, Trafigura Group, Traxys, and Umicore would be the first companies to test the platform.
Russia has been working hard to regulate the cryptocurrency sector, but regulators are yet to come up with a formal framework. Atomyze will need the central bank in order to approve an increase in the number of companies offering services. Due to the absence of precise regulation on cryptocurrencies, Atomyze will be restricted to issuing tokens denominated only in currencies. The platform will work with Russian lender Sberbank to process transactions made by individuals.
Potanin is hopeful that Atomyze will be the key to other big companies in Russia, applying for approval to launch similar projects. The main aim of the Atomyze project is to make it easier for the economy to get new products and to hasten the production, Potanin concluded.