Russia considers adopting 'cryptoruble' as a currency
There was a new bill registered on January 25th in the Russian State Duma (the Russian Parliament) that seeks to designate a Russian cryptoruble as a means of payment in Russia. The bill was authored by Communist Party member and member of the parliament, Rizvan Kurbanov.
The draft law, On the National Blockchain Mining System, seeks to introduce several new notions into Russian legislation, including the notion of a cryptoruble.
Under the definition provided by the author of the bill, the cryptoruble is “a digital financial asset (cryptocurrency) allowed to circulate in the Russian Federation, protected by cryptographic techniques, and used by participants of the blockchain technology system.” The document suggests designating the cryptoruble as a legal means of payment in Russia.
In an explanatory note to the bill, the author explains that cryptocurrencies currently “are beyond the state’s control, which increases the potential of them being used in illegal activity.” To prevent this from happening, the government needs to take it under its full control, adopt it as a new digital asset, and allow it as a legal means of payment in the Russia.
Talks on the creation of a national cryptocurrency emerged several months ago when First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova stated at the 2017 Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum that the Central Bank was studying the opportunity to create a national cryptocurrency and was already exploring “several pilot projects.” Later, the Central Bank’s Governor, Elvira Nabiullina, elaborated on the statement saying that the regulator considered cryptocurrency “as a digital asset” but it not in the immediate future.