By
Konstantin Anissimov
September 28th, 2020
The Crypto Investment Bank will help its clients towards fundraising process through ICOs as well in developing their blockchain networks.
Representatives from the blockchain division of the Russia-based payment service provider Qiwi has announced the launch of the country’s first crypto investment bank named HASH. The crypto investment bank has been launched with the aim to advise investors and other domestic companies in Russia once appropriate regulations and policies are brought in place.
HASH will function as a subsidiary of the Qiwi Group. HASH’s technology contractor is Qiwi Blockchain Technologies (QBT) which will look after the modus operandi and working procedure of the investment bank. Qiwi Blockchain Technology is the blockchain arm of the Qiwi Group that is focused towards blockchain-based development and consulting.
HASH will be “the first crypto investment bank in Russia,” and will provide services like managing client ICOs while helping them in other processes of fundraising and building their blockchain networks. Moreover, with the growing number of ICO scams in the market, HASH will be also advising financial institutions on the quality of cryptocurrency projects they want to invest.
Qiwi is launching this project in collaboration with several other fintech companies said Constantine Koltsov, a partner at Qiwi Blockchain Technology and head of corporate relationships at HASH. Koltsov told:
“We are going to make an international crypto bank providing trading services, research and ICO advisers … When the proper regulation is in place, we are going to help companies from traditional sectors of economy, like natural resources and heavy industry, to raise money through ICOs.”
Koltsov also disclosed that the crypto investment bank has already started working on an ICO for a private oil and gas company which is aiming to raise $20 million. However, he refused to name the company for the time being. The investment is also likely working on 10 such other funds with one of them estimated to be around $100 million.
Kolstov said that ICOs can be specifically useful at a time when the country is facing difficulty in fundraising due to several sanctions imposed by the West. He also said that for the smooth functioning of the crypto investment bank, HASH representatives expect the Russian parliament to pass a bill to regulate cryptocurrency and blockchain projects by this fall.
Yakov Barinsky, financial director at QBT is currently serving as a manager for the HASH crypto investment bank. While commenting on the project’s functioning, Barinsky said that the HASH bank will receive its commission after the company finishes raising funds in the market.
VTB Group, a popular financial service provider in Russia believes that with the improvement in the legislative base in the country’s cryptocurrency space, traditional investment banks will start pouring their interest in this market.
