Russian commercial Bank, Expobank, on 17 August 2020 has issued the country’s first crypto-backed personal loan. Focusing on new developments and the Russian practice to adopt and implement new technologies based on blockchain and digital ledgers, Expobank, guided by the current legislation, entered into an individual bank loan agreement secured by blockchain tokens.This is the first time in Russia where a loan is granted backed by cryptocurrencies and more specifically the borrower entered into an individual bank loan agreement secured by Waves tokens. The bank, through consultation by lawyers and crypto experts for the deal, declared the Waves tokens as “other property” and not payment tokens, having also in mind that the use of cryptocurrencies for payment is set to be banned in Russia from January 2021.

According to the head of the legal department of Expobank, Yandieva Tanzila: “This transaction is of a precedent nature both for the legal and for the banking community. In the process of structuring, we drew attention to the escrow mechanism, which today, in Russian law, is the best way to quickly fulfil obligations to a creditor by transferring property in the form of deposited digital assets. The market for tokenized investments is actively developing all over the world, and it has potential.”