Russian SWIFT to Transfer to Blockchain Technology by 2019

[kreslik.news]

Russian authorities are planning to transfer the country’s money transfer system to blockchain technology in 2019 according to a report in Izvestiya.

Sources ‘close to’ the Russian central bank told the media outlet that the Financial Communications Transfer System (SPFS) will be converted to a blockchain system. SPFS is the Russia equivalent of SWIFT. It was developed and implemented in 2014 following Western threats to withdraw SWIFT from Russia as part of sanctions for the invasion of Crimea. Russia developed its own version of Visa, called Mir, for the same reason.

This threat wasn’t carried out in the end but is still under ... (read more)