Russian Central Bank ‘on the Verge of’ Issuing Blockchain Mortgages

Despite its disdain for all things cryptocurrency-related, Russia’s Central Bank has lost none of its enthusiasm for blockchain – and looks to be doubling down on the technology with its fast-expanding plans to issue digital, blockchain-powered mortgages.

The Central Bank, which has already issued its own Masterchain blockchain network, yesterday fleshed out its plans – revealed earlier – to do away with conventional mortgages, instead using a fully digitized version on the Masterchain platform.

The bank’s crypto-skeptic head Elvira Nabiullina addressed the State Duma (Russia’s parliament) with a speech delivered on June 10 and published in full on the bank’s official website.

Nabiullina stated that the bank was on the verge of “fully digitizing” the mortgage application and issuance process, and had stepped up its efforts in a bid to keep the housing market healthy despite the enormous disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

She stated,

“The epidemic has accelerated our work [on digital mortgages], and we will ask parliamentarians to support us by making the necessary changes to regulations.”

Nabiullina added that temporary biometric solutions used during coronavirus lockdown needed to be replaced with more sustainable technology.

As previously reported, Nabiullina is believed to be in accord with the much-maligned “On Digital Assets” draft bill presented to the Duma in recent weeks. The bill proposes a partial, China-style crypto crackdown, which Nabiullina and the Central Bank have spoken in favor of.

However, the nation’s own Ministry of Economic Development is opposed to the draft legislation, and a local industry player has told Cryptonews.com that the draft bill was likely a “scare tactic.” Instead, they expect a softer version of the bill to materialize sometime next year “at the earliest.”

The central bank chief also made mention of the controversial bill in her speech, stating that the country “needs to move forward and not slow down development.”

She added that parliamentary commissions were keen to speed up the pace of regulation and said she “warmly supported” this.