bne IntelliNews – Russia’s Rostec develops blockchain system as “real alternative” to SWIFT

Rostec, a state-owned company that includes more than 700 defense and technology companies, announced in June that it has developed a blockchain platform to provide a “real alternative to SWIFT in international settlements,” East West Digital News reports.

Russian banks were excluded from the SWIFT system in February as part of sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Moscow has been trying to find alternative settlement systems to carry out its foreign trade transactions. The use of cryptocurrency has been considered, but it presents challenges.

Rostec’s blockchain platform, called ‘CELLS’, was developed by the Novosibirsk Institute of Software Systems (NIPS), a Rostec affiliate.

“CELLS was designed to create an ecosystem of software products and services, including a digital system for making payments in national currencies. This multifunctional system provides international payments, multi-currency transactions, user identification and digital currency storage. Blockchain technology combined with certified methods for cryptographic protection of information provides a high level of reliability “, claims Rostec.

“This blockchain-based digital payment system can be used as a full-fledged replacement for SWIFT. It provides high speed, security and irrevocability for transactions. The system will allow switching to settlement in national currencies, eliminate the risk of sanctions and ensure the independence of national fiscal policy for clearing participants,” Rostecs said. CEO Oleg Yevtushenko.

The platform provides up to 100,000 transactions per second, as well as storage and transfer of large multimedia files in a secure format in accordance with Russia’s legal requirements, says Rostec.

Rostec believes that independent software developers, system integrators, large companies, as well as governments, financial institutions and banks can use the system.

A data storage system, a blockchain platform for creating web applications protected against hacking and DDOS attacks, a digital passport service, a digital housing and shared services system and other solutions are also being developed, Rostec said.

This article first appeared in East-West Digital News (EWDN), an open IntelliNews partner publication.