Banking division of Gazpron, Gazprombank, is collaborating with Metaco and Avaloq in order to offer for Institutional Investors, crypto asset Custody Services in 2019.

A press release on December 6th revealed that: METACO said this decision is part of a combined effort which has been on for some time.

They can also boast that the service will begin its operations in Q2, 2019:
“Fintech leader Avaloq and crypto-asset custody infrastructure specialist METACO* have entered into an innovation partnership with Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd, a Swiss bank, to implement their integrated crypto asset solution. This product innovation aims to provide banks and wealth managers with a fully integrated solution for the management of client portfolios across all asset classes including cryptocurrencies. Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd, which is already an Avaloq client, aims to offer a cryptocurrency service to its clients in mid-2019.”

The 3 firms involved revealed that the service will focus on Security. Also, for this reason, Gazprombank will create a product, making use of the SILO technology (“a highly secure crypto-asset custody solution for institutional clients”developed by METACO). This product, in turn will function within the Avaloq Banking Suite.

Group CTO at Avaloq, Thomas Beck assured that the collaboration will offer a product with high quality. It will also be very user-friendly.

“For both institutions and bank clients, trust is key. Avaloq and METACO have considered this for the development of a fully integrated solution that can be offered to clients by their trusted bank. Thanks to the close integration of the METACO storage solution, banking and wealth management customers won’t have to trust additional third parties when trading with cryptocurrencies. By bringing together all asset classes in one portfolio view, the solution will also ensure the highest levels of convenience and usability.”

Although Russia has maintained a stance in some situations contrary to crypto use, its policy has revealed a great interest in the blockchain tech development.

Gazprom is a key industry for the Russian economy (Gazprom is Europe’s leading gas supplier), it might mean that with this decision, the harsh vision of the state concerning this, will be lightened.

We must also note that Gazprombank is a company domiciled in Switzerland, therefore no legal issues could possibly complicate the functioning of the new crypto custody service.