The largest commercial bank in Russia, Alfa Bank, is developing a new digital cash service where all transactions will be transmitted and cleared via the blockchain.
The service will be developed in partnership with HashCash, a private, permisionless digital cash system, will see the latter create a clearing house and payment router enabling all transfers to Alfa bank to take place on its open source blockchain platform HC Net.
According to HashCash Consultants managing director Raj Chowdhury, the initiative creates "a clearing house solution that combines the liquidity efficiency of a netting system and the intra-day finality of a real-time gross settlement system".
The project is not Alfa Bank's first blockchain-based venture, following its work with fellow Russian bank Sberbank on the country's first blockchain payment and a collaboration with a local airline for blockchain-based ticket sales.
Russia has adopted a conservative stance on cryptocurrencies with President Putin last week suggesting that future legislation on cryptocurrency trading is a certainty, however it has been far more positive about the future of the blockchain, including plans to pilot the technology for local voting systems.