Highlights of the International Financial Conference: The Russian version of R3 was officially established, and the Russian Central Bank revealed its blockchain project

Several Russian banks and financial services companies have reportedly formed a private blockchain alliance to develop blockchain applications.

The private blockchain alliance was officially established on July 1, and its members include payment company QIWI, B&N Bank, Khanty-Mansiysk Otkritie Bank, Tinkoff Bank, MDM Bank and Accenture. The blockchain alliance, known as the "Russian version of R3", was officially established at the 25th Russian International Financial Conference, which was hosted by the Russian Central Bank.

The main goals of this blockchain alliance are to develop blockchain proof of concept; conduct collaborative research and policy advocacy; and create common standards for blockchain technology. At the same time, they publicly announced that they will actively establish cooperation with domestic regulators and governments.

After months of continuous efforts by the initiator QIWI, the alliance has finally taken shape.

Sergey Solonin, CEO of QIWI, said:

I firmly believe that our alliance, which includes several major Russian financial institutions, will eventually become an effective platform for promoting multinational cooperation in the exploration, development and implementation of innovations in the financial services industry.

At the same time, the meeting also revealed details of the Russian Central Bank’s blockchain research.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Olga Skorobogatova unveiled a mysterious blockchain project at the conference that brings together several companies and is still in the testing phase to create a system for transferring information.

Skorobogatova said:

The central bank aims to use emerging technologies for the benefit of the market, not just to replace some old systems. We are currently developing an information transmission system based on blockchain technology and testing its feasibility with some market participants.