Sberbank CEO: Commercial Blockchains Just Two Years Away

The CEO of Russia's largest bank is increasingly bullish about enterprise blockchain.

In new statements today, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said that the use of distributed ledger technology by banks and other incumbents could be just two to two-and-a-half years away.

According to a report by Russia-based business news platform Prime, Sberbank is developing its own applications of the technology within a special working group headed by members of the domestic government.

Gref went on to describe this as a huge step forward for the technology, adding:

"Maybe they are a bit optimistic, but two to two-and-a-half years is the horizon within which we can speak about the application of blockchain commercial operation."

The statements follow notable action from Sberbank, which joined a Russia-based fintech consortium in August guided by the direction of the nation's central bank.

However, Gref's personal sentiment about the technology is nothing new.

As far back as December 2013, Gref has spoken out about bitcoin and public blockchains, going so far as to suggest that the technology not only had potential, but that it shouldn't be prohibited by regulators.

To learn more about the bank's work, read our latest interview with Sberbank here.

Herman Gref image via Shutterstock