Russian payments service provider QIWI has joined the R3 blockchain consortium, becoming the first Russian company to be included amongst R3’s global banking consortium of over 60 major banks and financial institutions.
Russian flag in silk
Publicly-traded QIWI is arguably the most well-known company in the Russian Fintech space. Last year, the company announced plans to begin issuing a cryptocurrency called “bitrubles”, an endeavor that quickly met opposition from Russian officials.
In June 2016, QIWI was revealed to be putting together Russia’s own private banking consortium, in partnership with the Bank of Russia, the Russian Federation’s central bank. The plan came to pass the following month. A coming together of Russia’s largest banks and tech consultancy giant Accenture formed the working group, along with QIWI.
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/r3-blockchain-consortium-sees-first-russian-member-qiwi/
