Sber, Russian federation'southward largest bank, is apparently struggling to obtain regulatory approval for its digital asset issuance platform as the company continues delaying registration plans.

Sber CEO Herman Gref appear Tuesday that the bank now expects its digital asset issuance platform to have been registered with the Bank of Russia by the cease of 2022, local news agency Prime reported.

"We are in constant contact with the central bank, and we are discussing various bug. We really want to believe that the platform volition be registered by the end of this twelvemonth," Gref said.

The new comments come almost a year after Sber initially filed an application with the Bank of Russian federation to launch a blockchain platform for its Sbercoin stablecoin in January 2022. At the time, Sber director of transactions Sergey Popov said that the registration procedure usually takes no longer than 45 days. As such, the banking company had b expecting to launch its platform and the stablecoin by jump 2022.

While unable to move forward with the plans by the autumn, Sber then said that it was planning to register its digital nugget issuance platform in September.

Sber did not respond to Cointelegraph's requests for comment on the matter.

Related: Crypto is a hedge for 46% of Russian retail investors, survey states

Sber'due south delayed plans hardly come equally a surprise, as Russia's central bank has taken a difficult stance on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and has even barred some major banks from offering crypto investment services. The depository financial institution has said that such services practise not "meet the interests of investors and bear great risks."

In the concurrently, Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina believes that tools such as central banking company digital currencies should serve equally a practiced pick for governments to replace decentralized cryptocurrencies.