Russia's central securities depository drives blockchain assets

Russia's central securities depository National Settlement Depository (NSD) has partnered with iCoinSoft Exchange Platform to create a "boxed solution" for developing and circulating digital assets.

The initiative is part of the HSE{Pro}Fintech programme of the Higher School of Economics' Business Incubator.

NSD experts and the project's team are looking to support any existing assets and developing new ones, which will add up to more than 500 existing as of today, said a statement. The iCoinSoft Exchange Platform reduces the time required to enter the market by a new platform to two weeks, and two clients have already proven it in practice, it said.

HSE{Pro}Fintech is an intensive three-month programme for developing financial and blockchain projects, initiated by the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in 2016 in partnership with Yandex, Bank Saint Petersburg, QIWI, SMARTHUB, RVC, and NSD.

NSD's director of innovations Artem Duvanov said: "The HSE's business incubator created a great site that helps beginners in the FinTech sphere utilise the experience and expertise of major players for the industrial implementation of their ideas. Supporting young FinTech teams is a strategic area of our work, and the iCoinSoft project that NSD chose to mentor has a chance to become a significant platform in the global market for technological solutions in the financial world."

HSE vice president Igor Agamirzyan added: "Finances and managing them is the oldest information object in the history of humanity which gained its traditions and became conservative. New technologies are transforming the landscape of the financial world: business models, market leaders, and the roles and opportunities for regulators are changing.

"That is why the FinNet industrial market which focuses on decentralized financial systems and currencies has become one of the National Technological Initiative's areas. The Higher School of Economics, as a young and modern university, is very interested in innovations, and the HSE Business Incubator's focus on the Fintech sector is natural. We are happy that our project development initiative was supported by National Settlement Depository and other partners. And, of course, the iCoinSoft project has a great development outlook."