Digital Ruble Could Be Tool Against Sanctions, Bank of Russia Says

The Bank of Russia (BoR) has said a role in side-stepping economic sanctions would be one reason to launch a ruble-backed central bank digital currency (CBDC).

• Talking to Moscow-based newspaper Izvestia, the institution's press office said a digital ruble could help diminish the dependence of the Russian economy on the U.S. dollar.
• This, in turn, could help mitigate the risk of the foreign sanctions, which have been imposed on Russia by the U.S. and the European Union in recent years.
• The most recent round of EU sanctions was imposed last week on several high-level public officials in Russia over the alleged assassination attempt on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a chemical warfare agent.
• The digital ruble could also make electronic payments cheaper, ease the pressure on the existing payment infrastructure and make cross-border payments more convenient, the BoR said.
• The bank did not go into details over how exactly a digital ruble would help counter sanctions.
• U.S. sanctions can also include bans on operations with digital currencies, as was the case with the three Russian nationals charged with interference in the U.S. elections this autumn.
• The central bank did say it would not permit any use of the CBDC not controlled by the regulator, and that the token must be backed by actual rubles.
• On Oct. 13, the BoR published a report on a possible future launch of the digital ruble seeking public feedback by Dec. 31.
• A ruble-backed stablecoin guaranteed and controlled by the government could stimulate financial innovation and even help prevent corruption, the report said.
• After the consultation period, the regulator may run pilot of the digital ruble with a limited set of users.
• A final decision on whether to go ahead with the digital currency would only be made after that, the report indicated.
• This summer, Russia passed a law regulating the issuance of digital securities in the country, which also mentions cryptocurrencies.
• A more detailed set of rules for cryptocurrency is yet to be passed and, according to a draft bill recently published, they may be prohibitive.
• The Bank of Russia has consistently voiced an anti-crypto stance over the years, with its head, Elvira Nabiullina, saying decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin should not be legal in the nation.

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