Bank of Russia opposes private stablecoins in the country

The Central Bank of Russia considers the digital ruble the only technology payment option to support.

In a new episode of the long-running battle between the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the country's Finance Ministry, representatives of the former have criticized the latter's idea of ​​backing stablecoins, which some private investors have sought to launch into the country.

According to local media, an unnamed representative of the central bank rejected talks about Russian-based stablecoins, launched last week by the director of the financial policy department of the Ministry of Finance, Ivan Chebeskov.

At the time, Chebeskov expressed his ministry's support for the creation of stablecoins linked to assets such as "the ruble, gold, oil or grain". He called it "a good way to develop new technologies" and urged private companies to try this type of financial tool if they deemed it necessary.

The CBR speaker said that private stablecoins “are characterized by higher risks” because the underlying asset pool does not belong to the issuer. They also stated that there is no guarantee of reimbursement at par by the issuer and that the price of the stablecoin is not really stable.

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In line with the CBR's traditional message, the bank's representative noted that the ruble remains the only legal means of payment in the country, and declared his faith in the digital ruble, "combining all the advantages of digital payments and the reliability of national currencies." As a local industry