Share this article
Sberbank Chairman: Blockchain Adoption Could Take 10 Years
The head of Sberbank believes that the wider-scale implementation of blockchain in Russia could take as long as a decade.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:18 a.m. Published Dec 22, 2017, 2:10 p.m.
The head of Sberbank believes that the wider-scale implementation of blockchain in Russia could take as long as a decade.
As quoted by state-owned news service TASS, Herman Gref, Sberbank's chairman of the board, indicated on Thursday that the institution could roll out products based on the tech as early as next year.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
But the wider adoption of blockchain could take much longer than that, according to the Sberbank chief.
Gref was quoted as saying:
"If we talk about Russia, we have the largest number of implemented projects concerning blockchain. Although, they are all in the experimental mode. We are experimenting a lot. Maybe in 2018 we will be able to introduce some products on a large scale. The blockchain technology is one of our tricks. I estimate the implementation horizon of the technology in 8 [to] 10 years."
In the interview, Gref specifically noted that commercial use of the ethereum blockchain could begin playing out of the next year or two. Sberbank became a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance back in October, as previously reported by CoinDesk.
"The technology is not yet ready for commercial implementation, it will take another year, maybe a year and a half or two, so that we can start using it," he remarked.
Gref has predicted a longer timeline for blockchain adoption in the past, as previously reported.
Earlier this year, Gref stated that the use of blockchain by banks could be just "two to two-and-a-half years away." At the time, he noted that Sberbank is working on its own blockchain applications.
Sberbank image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Fidelity's Jurrien Timmer: Expect lame 2026 as four-year bitcoin cycle appears intact
The director of global macro at the asset management giant remains a secular bull on bitcoin, but isn't optimistic about the next year.
What to know:
- A number of notable market analysts of late have dismissed the idea of bitcoin's four-year cycle and the nearly certain bear market that might imply.
- Fidelity's Jurrien Timmer, however, says the action so far this time around lines up about perfectly with past four-year cycles and the current bearish action should last deep into 2026.
Top Stories
