Potanin spoke about plans to issue tokens for the purchase of apartments in Norilsk

The Russian tokenization platform Atomyze, one of whose investors is Vladimir Potanin's Interros, plans to launch a pilot real estate program in Norilsk, said in an interview with Bloomberg. Potanin himself

The program involves the creation of tokens for the purchase of apartments and the launch of a mortgage program related to tokens in cooperation with Rosbank. When people want to move, they can sell real estate for tokens and exchange them for money or housing in another city, the billionaire said.

Interros is also negotiating with the Hermitage to issue NFTs for works of art that could be used to finance their restoration, Potanin said.

The billionaire stressed that the development of digital assets, tokenization and the digital ruble could make disputes over cryptocurrencies irrelevant. Regulators, in his opinion, are afraid of cryptocurrencies due to uncontrolled emission, but digital assets are an analogue of a contract that gives customers the opportunity to receive a product or service in digital form using the blockchain. “Metal coins were replaced by paper money, and then transactions became cashless. Digital financial assets are just the next stage,” Potanin concluded.

According to Bloomberg, the position of the businessman echoes the position of the Central Bank. The regulator supports the development of digital assets while advocating a complete ban on mining and trading in cryptocurrencies, which, in its opinion, pose a threat to the country's financial system.

• Last week, Atomyze was the first in the country to receive from the Central Bank the status of an operator of an information system for managing digital financial assets.
• In 2019, Norilsk Nickel tested trading in digital tokens of physical metals. At that time, Potanin estimated his investments in digital projects at $100 million.
• About why the Central Bank decided to ban cryptocurrencies and what will come of it, The Bell wrote here .