Sberbank Launches First Blockchain ETF in Russia

• Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has launched the country’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF), providing investors with access to the blockchain world. 

• The new instrument invests in the securities of companies dealing with cryptocurrencies and the technology that underpins them.

On Thursday, Sberbank, Russia’s and the post-Soviet space’s largest banking and financial services provider, announced the launch of a blockchain ETF. 

The new ‘Sber – Blockchain Economy’ product promises to give Russian investors the option to profit from the crypto business without having to get directly involved in the production, purchase, storage, and sale of the digital asset.

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“Because direct investments in crypto-assets are associated with significant risks, they are difficult to manage on your own,” explained Evgeny Zaitsev, CEO of Sber Asset Management. “

Sberbank introduces the Blockchain Economy ETF Tracking Index

Russia’s crypto activities have not been favorable this year; at the start of the year, Vladimir Putin claimed that bitcoin might be used for money laundering, and earlier this month the Bank of Russia prohibited Russian mutual funds from investing in cryptocurrency, but things appear to be changing with this major announcement.

The Sber Blockchain Economy Index, which includes stocks from firms that employ bitcoin and blockchain technology, serves as the foundation for the ETF.”Today, they are utilized in a number of industries to address a wide range of problems, from personal data protection and copyright confirmation to developing platforms for the Internet of Things and voting in line,” according to the bank.

Sberbank highlighted the fact that its blockchain economy ETF is the first of its kind to be registered on the Russian stock exchange. The fund is based in US dollars, but investors may buy shares in Russian rubles using the Sberinvestor app or any Russian broker, according to the bank. A share costs 10 rubles to purchase.

The cryptocurrency-related instrument is being introduced in response to Elvira Nabiullina, President of the Central Bank of Russia announced on October that the Russian Federation’s monetary authority is not ready to allow the trading of a bitcoin ETF. The governor restated the CBR’s harsh position on cryptocurrency investments in December, and a report claimed that the CBR aims to prohibit card payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.

With cryptocurrency becoming more public, nations are looking into ways to regulate it and develop a means to invest in it in a less risky way, similar to ETFs. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), which debuted on the NYSE in October, was a big trigger in the crypto ETF sector this year.