NSD, Waves to present prototype of blockchain platform to support digital assets in 2018
MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - Russia's National Settlement Depository (NSD) and Waves Platform have announced the start of joint work on the development of a blockchain platform for post-trade servicing of digital assets, the first prototype of which they plan to demonstrate in 2018, the companies said in a joint press release.
The new platform architecture will securely host and store tokenised (using distributed ledger technology) and crypto assets, settling transactions and providing identification for owners of cryptocurrency wallets.
"The crypto-asset market is rapidly growing and rightfully attracting enormous attention from traditional institutional investors, post-trade infrastructure and financial regulators around the world," NSD CEO Eddie Astanin was quoted as saying.
The goal in partnering with Waves Platform is to create a secure and user-friendly accounting infrastructure for digital assets, he said.
"We consider the platform would not only provide technological and legal protection of all parties involved, but also extend a variety of post-trade services for investors, custodians and new institutions emerging in this sector of the economy. It is also important to synchronize our efforts with the work of regulators in this field," Astanin said.
The ability to work with new types of financial instruments will be of interest to a wide circle of market participants, including banks, pension funds and retail investors," Waves Platform founder and CEO Alexander Ivanov said.
"Collaboration with NSD is important for us with regard to all new and existing instruments, allowing us to ensure a high level of reliability, technological efficiency, and risk protection. NSD's expertise and deep knowledge of market infrastructure will allow us to create a unique product for crypto asset record-keeping, meeting the requirements of a broad spectrum of market players," Ivanov said.
NSD, Russia's central depository, is part of the Moscow Exchange group and conducts all exchange settlements and most over-the-counter settlements. It services both Russian securities as the central depository and foreign securities.
Waves is a decentralized platform for crowdfunding issuing digital assets. The Waves crypto platform enables users to issue, trade and exchange assets and their own blockchain tokens. One of the distinguishing features of the project is its focus on ease of use and mass adoption. Waves carried out an Initial Coin Offering in June 2016, raising over $16 million (30,000 BTC).