Russian State Duma Committee Considers Launch of Central Bank-Issued Stablecoin

The chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee on Financial Markets has claimed that the entity is considering the launch of state-backed cryptocurrency pegged to the Russian ruble, Russian radio news station Govorit Moskva reported Friday, Nov. 2.

Speaking at a press conference on the increase of the household debt load, Chairman Anatoly Aksakov expressed his confidence that the government will back a cryptocurrency, “but it will be a ruble-pegged cryptocurrency.” The deputy clarified that the implied coin will represent a blockchain-powered stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the ruble.

Aksakov further described the model of creating the stablecoin, stating that the cryptocurrency will be backed by a banking deposit of a certain amount. After that, a banking institution is set to issue a corresponding amount of crypto assets by using blockchain technology and adhering to the 1:1 proportion.

According to Moscow-based news outlet Mskagency, the chairman has clarified that the cryptocurrency will be issued by the central bank since it is backed by fiat currency. In conclusion, Aksakov noted that the implementation of blockchain technology in terms of issuance “crypto-money” is “promising.”

In late October, Aksakov claimed that major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are doomed to a “bleak future” since they are not backed by anything, adding that this was a reason for the recent amendment to the Russian draft law "On Digital Financial Assets” removing the definition of crypto mining from its purview.

The idea of launching a Russian state-issued cryptocurrency, dubbed the CryptoRuble, was announced in early 2018, with the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain (RACIB) claiming that the coin will be launched in the middle of 2019.

However, most recently, presidential adviser Sergey Glazyev claimed that there is still no movement on the matter, while stating that the existing programmatic tools could allow for a “very fast” issuance of cryptocurrency.