Expobank, a major financial institution in Russia, has reportedly issued the first tokenized diamond offering in the country. According to local media, Expobank has used the Multichain blockchain platform to issue these tokens, with each of them being worth 1/5,000 of a diamond, democratizing access to these gemstone investments for retail investors.
Expobank pioneers diamond tokenization in Russia
Expobank, a financial institution with more than 50 offices in Russia, has entered the gem tokenization market. The bank recently issued the first tokenized diamonds on the Russian market using the Multichain blockchain, with the intention of democratizing the gemstone market and allowing small investors to enter these investment opportunities.
The tokens were issued for a three-carat diamond worth 9 million rubles ($97,500). Expobank issued 5,000 tokens for the diamonds, each priced at 1/5000 of the total, making each token cost less than $20.
The redemption date of the tokens, which have been issued only to authorized investors, is November 2026, when the token’s payout price will be calculated using a special calculator on a website that rates diamonds based on their size, purity, shape, and fluorescence, among other characteristics.
However, if this option is not available, a diamond price index will be used to calculate the price.
National and international tokenizations are moving forward
Russia has allowed the issuance of tokens called Digital Financial Assets (DFAs) since 2021, when it regulated the issuance of tokens representing real and other traditional assets. However, most of these possibilities have only recently surfaced.
Kommersant, a local news outlet, reported that there has been movement in the DFA space, with 140 tokenized products announced, reaching a $450 million market to date. However, not all of these tokens have been issued.
Other tokenization options are also being explored by financial institutions in Russia. In October, the Moscow Stock Exchange, the largest exchange in Russia, announced that it planned to issue digital assets in the residential and real estate field so that companies can receive financing from investors in addition to traditional cash flows from banks.
HSBC, one of the largest financial entities, recently launched a gold bullion tokenization platform, targeting a more than $500 billion market in the Greater London region. The platform will allow investors to track and negotiate their gold holdings through HSBC’s platform.
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