Image by Alexandr Gromov
Russian Minister of Communications Nikolay Nikiforov has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin just announced today in a closed door meeting in Moscow that Russia will issue its own cryptocurrency, the cryptoruble.
“According to the official, the state issued cryptocurrency cannot be mined and will be issued and controlled and maintained only by the authorities. The CryptoRubles can be exchanged for regular Rubles at any time, though if the holder is unable to explain where the CryptoRubles came from, a 13 percent tax will be levied. The same tax will be applied to any earned difference between the price of the purchase of the token and the price of the sale,” wrote Cointelegraph.com.
Nikiforov said, “I confidently declare that we run CryptoRuble for one simple reason: if we do not, then after 2 months our neighbors in the EurAsEC will.”
Bitcoin Now Acceptable Technology For Government Transactions In Caucasus
Russia has had a difficult time diversifying its economy away from hydrocarbon production which has hurt economic growth as the price of oil languishes in international markets. Western sanctions also impacted Russia materially. Hi-tech is seen as a way that Russia can gain an edge against the Western and Asian world. Cryptocurrencies are an area that Putin has shown a personal interest in.
Russia Says Technology Will Overcome Demographic Decline
Russia still seems to be in the stage of figuring out its policy on cryptocurrencies as President Putin had previously called for a ban on the technology.
The cryptocurrency world also provides an opportunity for Russia and its other allies to reduce reliance on the U.S. Dollar and other Western financial systems.
