Bank of Russia opposes private stablecoins in the country

In a fresh episode of the longstanding battle between the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the country’s Ministry of Finance, representatives of the former have criticized the latter’s idea of supporting the stablecoins, which some private investors have sought to launch in the country. 

According to local media, an unnamed representative of the central bank dismissed talk of Russia-based stablecoins, started last week by the Ministry of Finance’s director of financial policy department Ivan Chebeskov.

Back then, Chebeskov voiced his ministry’s support for creating stablecoins tied to assets like “the ruble, gold, oil or grain”. He called it “the right path for developing new technology” and urged private companies to try this kind of financial tool if they find it necessary.

The CBR speaker said that private stablecoins “are characterized by higher risks,” because the pool of underlying assets doesn’t belong to the issuer. They also stated that there is no guarantee of redemption at par by the issuer and the price of stablecoin isn’t really stable.

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In a line with the traditional CBR message, the bank’s rep noted that the ruble remains the only legal payment method in the country, and stated their belief in the digital ruble, “combining all the advantages of digital payments and the reliability of national currency.” As local industry experts sometimes emphasize, the central bank digital currency project lies at the heart of the CBR’s suspicion towards all the private cryptocurrencies.

On June 29, the head of the CBR’s department of financial technologies, Kirill Pronin, acknowledged the possibility of crypto mining legalization under certain conditions, namely the export of all the mined assets to foreign exchanges. The Ministry of Finance’s Ivan Chebeskov didn’t miss a chance to disagree, noting that the current geopolitical challenges for Russian miners who want to sell their crypto abroad.