The new laboratory is aimed at creating prototype products, conducting trial tests and deploying business solutions based on a blockchain network for Sberbank Group, a press release said.
According to Igor Bulantsev, senior vice president of Sberbank, blockchain can help in "restructuring" the financial services market, as well as in the activities and services of the bank.
The project will work on the development of advanced technologies in conjunction with other laboratories of the bank, and is planning to establish cooperation with startups and other alliances.
The secret laboratory of Sberbank will appoint specialists in the blockchain, who have experience in creating and implementing blockchain ideas for existing products, as well as creating new approaches to business activities, the release adds.
The launch began a month after the CEO of Sberbank German Gref said that a more extensive implementation of the blockchain in Russia could take up to a decade. At that time, he noted that Russia "experiments a lot" with the blockchain and added that this year the bank will present some products on a "large scale".
In February of last year, Gref predicted that the use of distributed ledger technology by banks and other operators could be just 2–2.5 years away.
Sberbank has launched number of initiatives within the framework of the blockchain ecosystem, including its recent entry into the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance - an enterprise-focused consortium. Some of the pilot projects based on blockchain of the bank include joint solutions with Severstal and the Federal Antimonopoly Service.
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