Russia’s Central Bank Has Begun Testing Stablecoins

Russia’s central bank appears to have joined the crypto game.

The CoinTelegraph, citing a report from Russian news service Interfax, says that the Central Bank of Russia has begun testing stablecoins pegged to real assets.

Elvira Nabiullina, Russia’s central bank head, said that the bank is currently exploring possible uses of stablecoins. However, they aren’t working under the impression that they’ll replace fiat anytime soon:

“We are testing stablecoins in our regulatory ‘sandbox’. We see companies willing to issue tokens pegged to certain real assets. In our regulatory sandbox, we are learning the potential uses of stablecoins but we do not assume that they will function as a means of payment and become a surrogate for money.”

Research into a possible digital ruble is still going on however, with Nabiullina emphasizing that they want to first see the potential benefits of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) based on the experiences of other countries.

Photo: Kuba