CEO of Sberbank Expects Blockchain Technology To Be Ready For Industrial Use In 2 Years

By Rishma Banerjee

Head of Sberbank, state-owned Russian banking and financial services company, with its headquarters in Moscow, recently said that the worldwide and industrial acceptance of blockchain technology is merely about two years away. A local news agency, TASS reported that while speaking to journalists, the CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of the largest Russian bank, Herman Gref elaborated that the technology is entering the stage where it undergoes industrial developments. He said,

“The hype around the technology [blockchain] is now over, and the technology is entering the stage of industrial development. It needs a year or two to be implemented at the industrial scale.”

He is of the opinion that the global markets are not ready for the full-scale adoption of the blockchain technology, keeping in mind the  “immaturity of the technology.”

Gref, earlier in October had also spoken about the same issue and provided a more general timeframe for the adoption of this technology, by saying that it would be “ready” in three to five years, though he had not specifies the scale of development he was expecting before pronouncing it to be ready for mass acceptance.

Sberbank, along with quite a few other major Russian banks and institutions are extremely actively involved in the blockchain sphere.

In December 2017, they had partnered with the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia in order to store documents and transfer data on the blockchain. In June they had collaborated with Alfa Bank to test investment options for retail investors, that was to be based on the blockchain. In October, Sberbank became an advisor to state-owned power giant Rossetti in order to help it test blockchain solutions.