At a student conference, Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said such a project may not be realized immediately. But various central banks, including Bank of Russia, are treating it as a possibility, TASS reported.

Nabiullina’s perspective on having a digital currency

According to Nabiullina, a crucial aspect to the utility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is the assurance of reliability and continuity. The technology is expected to be reliable, including technologies of distributed registries, Nabiullina added.

A point to deliberate on is whether citizens are ready to leave cash behind: “It will be more convenient, it is electronic money for people, for citizens. Are we ready, as a society, to refuse cash?”, she said.

To Nabiullina, it will be more convenient, because it is electronic money for citizens of Russia. Some countries are almost running cashless, others are still fond of physical money. She stated that, it is not only for illicit reasons, but because these people value privacy and anonymity.

Nabiullina also gave some advice to the central bank’s researchers, saying they can test the CBDC and compare its advantages over other methods, such as fast bank payments.

The Russian government has always been crypto-skeptical, but they have recently softened towards the tech. In May, Nabiullina said that Russia’s Central Bank would consider the use of a gold-backed cryptocurrency to carry out international settlements.

According to reports by Tass, Nabiullina didn’t mention a timeframe that the Bank of Russia would review a proposal for the development of the cryptocurrency. However, fiat currency settlement systems within the Eurasian Economic Union are improving and already have good dynamics.

Russia’s lower legislative house, the Duma, is also moving towards passing cryptocurrency legislation. Although, the projected time of completion for the spring session is unlikely to be met.

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