Where Russian regulatory authorities have not yet clearly defined the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies, the country’s banks have started offering cryptocurrency-backed loans to people. According to an article report from the local news outlet Kommersant published on August 19, 2020, the commercial bank of Russia Expobank has issued a cryptocurrency-backed bank loan to a businessman. This marks the first-ever loan issued to an individual which is backed by digital currency Waves. The news is also confirmed by the founder and CEO of Waves Alexander Ivanov in a tweet.
Russia’s first cryptocurrency-backed loan
According to the report, the bank issued the cryptocurrency-backed bank loan to an entrepreneur Mikhail Uspensky using WAVES tokens. The report says, “The loan was issued through the conclusion of an individual bank loan agreement secured by Waves tokens.” So far in the country Russia, this is the first-ever bank loan issued by a bank using cryptocurrency.
However, the value of the loan issued to the businessman has not been revealed. On receiving the loan from the Expobank, the local entrepreneur and tax consultant Mikhail Uspensky shared his plans and said, “I don’t refuse plans to use Waves and I don’t see any point in selling tokens, but they should not be dead weight in my pocket, but should work”.
Also read:Adding more to it he said, “in the cryptocurrency market there is already an opportunity to pledge assets in exchange for cash – this is DeFi (decentralized finance), but this is difficult to do with Waves tokens.”
Non-payment tokens are not restricted in Russia
Commenting on this cryptocurrency-backed bank loan, a lawyer Yuri Brisov said that the government has not restricted the use of non-payment digital currencies in the country. Considering Waves as a non-payment token, Brisov said that legally they can be used in the country. The lawyer said:
“Waves tokens can be absolutely legally used in Russia. There are no restrictions on the circulation of non-payment tokens in our country.”
A few weeks ago, Russia imposed a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method that will start from the month of January the next year.
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