TCS Group, the parent company of Tinkoff, a large private Russian bank, is expanding its exposure to digital assets.
According to local news outlet The Bell, the corporation has invested in Swiss digital asset service provider Aximetria, which is slated to become the company’s first significant crypto-related outfit.
According to the report, TCS purchased 4,449 Aximetria shares for 100 Swiss francs ($108) per share, using Aximetria data. Given that Aximetria’s total share capital was roughly 535,000 francs ($578,000), TCS’ ownership was believed to be around 83.2 percent.
Tinkoff confirmed the development to Cointelegraph, noting that Aximetria will be “part of Tinkoff Group’s international expansion in conformity with all the requirements of the jurisdictions of international presence.”
The spokesman stressed that Aximetria is a “financial service in the digital asset business,” not a “crypto exchange.”
At the time of writing, Aximetria’s web page mentions the company’s affiliation with TCS. Users can open a “Swiss crypto account” with Aximetria, which offers free deposits and withdrawals in euros or US dollars. According to the site, it caters to clients all around the world.
Tinkoff has been trying to offer crypto investment services in Russia amid growing demand, as the Bank of Russia reportedly barred the company from developing its own suite of related services. As a result, Russia has no single legal company based in the nation that offers crypto investing.
The central bank is well-known for its antipathy for the cryptocurrency industry and Bitcoin (BTC). It does, however, apparently want to allow consumers to invest in cryptocurrency through overseas sites.
Despite local regulators’ continued scepticism, Russia’s largest bank, Sber, launched a crypto exchange-traded fund in December, tracking prominent crypto investment businesses and exchanges such as Coinbase and Galaxy Digital. Previously known as Sberbank, the state-backed firm had planned to launch a crypto exchange business through its Sberbank Switzerland affiliate in 2018.
