The Guardian: The head of the BBC previously invested in the Russian platform Atomyze

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American edition of The Guardian inA journalistic investigation revealed that the chairman of the BBC television company invested in the Russian digital asset platform Atomyze two years ago.

Current BBC Television Chairman RichardSharp invested in a cryptocurrency company founded by Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin in 2019, The Guardian claims. The former banker used the offshore company ABCP GP Ltd. in the Cayman Islands to invest in the Atomyze precious metals-linked token issuance platform.

Spokesperson for the Sharp Investment Funddenies Sharp's involvement in investments in Atomyze. He acknowledged that Richard Sharp has "a long-standing interest in a range of new technologies" and added that Potanin was not under sanctions at the time of Atomyze's 2019 financing.

In addition, the spokesperson states thatSharpe placed all of his investments into a blind trust in February 2021 ahead of his appointment as BBC chairman. He entered into an agreement to have his funds managed by a third party to avoid any potential conflicts of interest as a director of a major American television network. 

According to the spokeswoman, this trust alone, without Sharp's participation, managed the interests of ABCP GP Ltd and Atomyze.

“Currently a blind trust and,therefore, the Sharps do not have financial or management interests in any business owned and controlled by Vladimir Potanin,” said a spokesman for the Sharp Foundation.

Let us remind you that in July the Russian platformAtomyze, powered by the Hyperledger blockchain, has launched the first palladium-backed digital financial asset. Rosbank invested in it. Prior to this, in February, the company Atomyze, which provides services for issuing tokens, was the first in Russia to receive the status of operator of digital financial assets (DFAs) from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.