Blockchain-Based Metals Marketplace Atomyze Licensed by Russian Central Bank
The Russian division of Atomyze, an innovative metals marketplace built on blockchain technology and backed by Russia’s diversified miner Nornickel, received a license from the country’s monetary authorities, the Central Bank of Russia said on Thursday.
“The Bank of Russia has included the first organization, Atomyze LLC, in the register of information system operators that issue digital financial assets (DFA),” the Central Bank said.
Atomyze is designed for trade in asset-backed coins, or tokens, giving the investors global access to commodities markets, but without the need to be bothered with customary delays and logistical challenges. The asset-backed token allows investors to freely transfer ownership via the marketplace without having to physically transport the commodity.
“We thoroughly prepared an application for a license at the Bank of Russia and were impressed by the regulator’s attentive work. Together we are laying the foundations for an entirely new way of trading,” Atomyze Russia CEO Ekaterina Frolovicheva said.
After the license is received, the first tokens can technically be released in a month. Two key products will be launched first, for individuals and legal entities, Frolovicheva said earlier.
Over the next two years, the company plans to expand the number of instruments not only to other metals, but also through cooperation with other industries, she said.
Atomyze’s platform was approved by the Central Bank’s financial technology department in early 2020 after being tested for about 4 months.
The legislation regulating digital financial assets, which allowed for the tokenization of physical assets, came into force in the country in early 2021.
Atomyze Russia was established in November 2020. Along with two companies of the same name registered in the United States and Switzerland, it is part of an ecosystem designed to work with digital assets around the world. The platform is part-owned by the Global Palladium Fund, a metals distributor founded by Russia’s mining giant Norilsk Nickel. Atomyze filed an application with the Bank of Russia to obtain the status of an information system operator and a digital financial assets exchange operator in mid-January.
Nornickel (majority-owned by Vladimir Potanin) was the only Russian company to make the annual Forbes Blockchain 50 last year, a ranking of companies that are leaders in blockchain technology and have a capitalization or annual revenue of $1 billion or more.
On January 18 last year, Nornickel’s GPF floated the first digital tokens backed by metals on the Deutsche Börse stock exchange and then throughout the year issued 6 more exchange traded commodities. Currently it has around $120 million in assets under management, according to its website.
