Russian Oligarch Will Launch $15 Million DeFi “CryptoBank”

A Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev will launch a $15 million DeFi “cryptobank” that could spearhead the investment in the new venture as we are reading more in the crypto news.

The Russian oligarch whose fortune was estimated at a total of $3.1 billion in 2008, is the former head of the Russian National Reserve Bank who also has investments in Gazprom, Sberbank, and Aeroflot. He owns a UK media empire which includes a British newspaper like the Evening Standard and the Independent and even sold his National Reserve Bank holdings in 2019. According to the reports, Lebedev partnered with the head of the Garantex crypto exchange Sergey Mendeleev for the new project which was initially named as InDefinEco. The mogul said that the project will be based in Switzerland and that the funding will be launched in November. He added that an initial round of $10-$15 million will be pumped into the company.

Lebedev also hopes that the project will break into the Defi world and will hit the top 10 defi projects claiming that the initial cash boost will be spent on minor development costs and will create a basket of reserves which will be used to launch a stablecoin:

 “From a development perspective, DeFi projects do not require serious investment. My partners and I are ready to finance a startup. However, we will need to fund the issue of a stablecoin to keep the system operational. That’s where we will need […] USD 10-15 million.”

Lebedev added that this new project will not be aimed only for the Russian market even though it will originate in his home country. He added that the Cryptobank will aim to provide lending with stablecoins backed by crypto assets with the chance to earn on deposits. It will also provide management services that will generate more profitability as well as complex financial products based on the tokens and crypto-assets.

Экс-банкир Лебедев инвестирует с партнерами до $15 млн в криптобанк: https://t.co/mk3IXxamN9 через @ru_rbc

— Alexander Lebedev (@lebedevalex) September 30, 2020

Speaking about the Russian market the government has taken a new turn – and the finance ministry proposes a set of measures that are somehow drastic. Interestingly, the new draft of Russian law could take 30% of the BTC of users if they haven’t reported it for taxes. The ministry proposes a set of measures that could see a failure to report crypto holdings made illegal, and punishable with potentially massive fines.