Russian Smelting Giant Nornickel Launches Metal Tokenization Platform for Testing

HOT COMMODITY? The first batch of tokens issued on Atomyze will be backed by palladium, cobalt and copper mined by Moscow-based Nornickel.

Nornickel, the Russian mining and smelting giant, has taken another step toward the issuance of tokens backed by metals on Atomyze, a Hyperledger-based blockchain platform.

The platform is now launched for testing alongside a handful of Nornickel's partners, including commodity trading company Trafigura, metal refinery firm Umicore and supply chain consultancy Traxys, according to an announcement Tuesday.

It's expected to serve the companies from Switzerland and the U.S., as Nornickel CEO Vladimir Potanin told Bloomberg Tuesday morning.

The first batch of tokens will be backed by palladium, cobalt and copper mined by Nornickel.

Over the first year, Nornickel expects to tokenize up to 10 percent of its overall sales volume - a number that may rise to 20 percent in the future, the firm said.

A Trafigura spokesperson said that the company is "In advanced discussions to participate" in Atomyze and "Is looking forward to taking an active part in the testing phase of the platform."

Tokentrust's board includes Alexander Stoyanov, the managing director of Nornickel's subsidiary Global Palladium Fund.IBM was also involved, acting as the project's lead technology partner.

Nornickel has been working on tokenizing its metals for a while, aiming to turn them into more liquid assets and make the sales process easier and more flexible, Nornickel CEO Vladimir Potanin said in October.

Nornickel has been testing the solution inside a regulatory sandbox set up by Russia's central bank.