With China on the last page of CBDC ‘s development, several countries have been alerted that the largest populous country is heading towards global financial dominance. Fearing this, certain countries have stepped up the game. Russia is the latest to jump on the CBDC bandwagon.
‘Digital Ruble Is The Future’
In the recent virtual forum, Blockchain Life 2020, members of the Russian parliament as well as the Central Bank’s National Banking Council, Anatoly Aksakov revealed that Russia was keen on developing a central bank digital currency. Aksakov suggested that the digital ruble would be steering towards the testing phase possibly by the next year. He pointed out that consultations regarding the Russian CBDC were carrying on in full swing.
He added,
“I always believed that a digital ruble is the future of all our money circulation.”
The digital ruble would be able to execute several functions of money that would allow it to act as a means of payment, a measure of value as well as a store of value. The Central Bank of Russian further pointed out that a single digital ruble would always equal one cash ruble. The digital ruble would have several functions to carry out, including the tracking of payments and tracking of goods throughout the supply chains.
Several Russian media outlets proposed that the digital ruble would be out and about by the end of next year.
Russian Officials Positive About Blockchain; Skeptical About Crypto
While Russian law has been lenient with crypto assets, it restricts individuals from using it as a means of payment. Almost every country follows the same protocol. Crypto has been outrightly denounced while blockchain technology is shown in a positive light. Russia seems to be doing the same as Aksakov pointed out that blockchain tech was the technology of the future.
However, he highlighted that the pertinent opposition to crypto was garnered from the perils it feigns for the average Joe as well as financial institutions. However, the government is reportedly steering towards incorporating new laws for the better amendment of the crypto-verse. These laws would be put into practice as early as 1 January 2021.