The Central Bank of Russia Believes the Cryptoruble will not launched in the Near Future
The Central Bank of Russia does not seem too confident that the cryptoruble will be released in the near future. In fact, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, Sergey Shvetsov, stated that the cryptoruble, which would be the national cryptocurrency of Russia, would most likely not be created in the near future.
According to the central bank, the cryptocurrency might be used to bypass regulation. The statements were made by Shvetsov at the Gaidar Forum, which he attended this week. Besides saying that the cryptoruble will not see the light of day too soon, Shvetsov also revealed that regulators might not be able to launch it yet. Shvetsov said:
“I’m of the opinion that as long as the demand for cryptocurrencies is linked to a large extent with the bypass of regulations, it is clear that the regulator cannot afford to issue a cryptoruble, which will allow to bypass regulations.”
When will the cryptoruble be launched?
According to the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, the cryptoruble will most likely be released in the country sometime in mid-2019. Most likely, by the end of the year the legal basis for the cryptocurrency to be launched will be finalized, making room for the release in 2019.
Well, Shvetsov is not the first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia to share such an opinion. Olaga Skorobogatova also previously claimed that she considered that there was no need to release the cryptoruble. But, of course, these opinions are not shared by everyone. The Finance Minister for example, seems to believe that the cryptoruble can easily be used for cross-boarder settlements.
The Ministry of Finance believes that the cryptoruble would be a main payment form for settlements made with other countries:
“The issue on which to focus now is the use of electronic money, a cryptoruble, in cross-border settlements. Settlements with our leading trading partners, at least the countries of the former USSR, could be made not in a foreign currency but in electronic rubles.”
Along with the Ministry of Finance, the president of the country, Vladimir Putin, also seems to be a big supporter of the national cryptocurrency. Putin previously commissioned work on the cryptoruble, considering the national digital currency a good way to evade international sanctions imposed on Russia.
