The Central Bank announced the idea of creating a national cryptocurrency of the Russian Federation at a meeting of the State Duma committees

30.11.1999

The Central Bank is still opposed to the launch of cryptocurrency in Russia, but is ready to study the project of digital money for gold.

Today, the chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina noted that the Central Bank is still opposed to launching an electronic coin in the country, but the project can be studied if the cryptocurrency ceases to play the role of a financial surrogate and is attached to gold.
 

Discussion of the issue at a meeting of the committees of the State Duma of the Russian Federation

During the joint meeting, State Duma Deputy Vladimir Gutenev made a proposal for a Russian initiative to issue national cryptocurrencies nominated in gold. Elvira Nabiullina, Chairman of the Central Bank, commented on the idea. She stated that the Central Bank is, in principle, against launching a digital coin into its financial system and does not see an opportunity for Bitcoin and its followers to perform the function of surrogate funds in Russia.

In turn, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, explained that in this case it is more likely not about the cryptocurrency attached to gold, but about Stablecoin.

The head of the Central Bank did not give a specific answer to this comment and only indicated that Stablecoin is currently under study.

The result of the State Duma meeting on this issue was the decision at the next BRICS summit to put forward the idea of creating a national coin nominated in gold, that is, to bring the issue to the level of interstate cooperation between the Russian Federation, the Peoples Republic of China, India, Brazil and the Republic of South Africa. 

To the origins of the idea

For the first time, proposals to form their own Russian cryptographic currency began to sound back in 2017, which was undoubtedly caused by the growth of the Bitcoin exchange rate and the popularity of virtual funds. So in the summer of 2017, Olga Skorobogatova, Deputy Central Bank of Russia, announced the creation of a national coin. This statement was confirmed by Elvira Nabiullina.

However, they started talking about it again only two years later. Whether the Central Bank was engaged in research or development of the designated project is currently not known. High-ranking officials who are aware of the issue note that it is not worth waiting for any results or even a clear plan of action to implement the idea. Building a blockchain platform, writing codes, providing a technological component and, more importantly, security - all this takes a significant amount of time, not to mention the final decision on linking the cryptocurrency to the gold and foreign exchange fund. Today, only the alleged name of the coin is known - Cryptoruble. 

Features of the Crypto Ruble

The first thing that everyone who is interested in electronic currency needs to pay attention to is that the Crypto Ruble will not become a full-fledged replacement for the fiat ruble. This is evidenced by numerous statements by representatives of the Central Bank, deputies and financial experts. But it is not yet known what exactly the national currency will represent.
Purpose and purpose

    It is assumed that the virtual ruble will provide direct interaction between cryptocurrencies and the real ruble, facilitating the coin withdrawal process and making transactions more transparent.
    The crypto-ruble will act as an electronic certificate for Russians. With its help, payment for various services and the purchase of goods within the state will be available. But it is important to note that the transactional processes of users using the national electronic currency will be monitored by the government in order to avoid financing criminal entities.
    The most accurate and confirmed information to date indicates that the Cryptoruble will be considered as a universal means of payment among the EAEU countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan) to ensure the stability of the exchange rate, high speed, as well as the security of transfers.

The precise purpose of the national virtual currency of Russia is still not known, since government structures actively hide any information related to this issue, removing it from free access. 

Advantages and disadvantages of the Russian national cryptocurrency project


Among all the existing dialogues between heads of government, it is clear that high-speed transactions will become the main advantage of the cryptographic ruble over fiat.

A huge plus is the fact that a low commission will be taken for transfers in Crypto rubles. Most banking payment systems usually charge a decent amount for the transaction of funds, so it is obvious that the population of the Russian Federation will appreciate the innovation.

But, like any system, the ruble cryptocurrency will not bypass the drawbacks. So, for example, national virtual money will not provide its users with the decentralization and confidentiality that Bitcoin and its followers are endowed with. The electronic ruble will be directly managed and controlled by specialized supervisory bodies. Also, the functioning of the coin will be provided by internal Russian servers, so each financial transaction will be quite easy to track, that is, it will not work to hide it from the tax service.

Among other things, it will be possible to completely exclude the free creation of a token using a cryptographic method - mining. A certain amount of Crypto rubles will be released immediately, and subsequently only verified individuals and organizations will have access to the mining of the national coin. They will operate on the basis and under the control of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which in turn increases the risk of bureaucratization or monopolization of the process.


Back