Russia's largest bank considers issuing a stablecoin, possibly pegged to the Russian ruble

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is considering issuing a stablecoin pegged to the Russian ruble after President Vladimir Putin signed the country’s first cryptocurrency bill.

According to a report by local Russian news agency Kommersant on Tuesday, Sberbank’s head of trading operations Sergey Popov said the banking giant is currently actively considering issuing its own stablecoin, which could be pegged to the Russian ruble.

The bank is considering issuing a stablecoin that can be used for settlement of other digital financial assets, according to the report. Popov noted that Sberbank will be able to issue the digital currency in accordance with Russia’s recently passed law “On Digital Financial Assets (DFA)”.

“We may issue a stablecoin based on the recently adopted law. When we peg this stablecoin to the ruble, the token may become a base instrument for settlement of other digital financial assets,” he said.

Just last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the DFA bill. The bill was passed by the Russian State Duma on July 22. Russia's legislative body agreed to give crypto assets legal status, and the new bill is expected to take effect on January 1, 2021.

The bill provides a legal definition for digital assets and legalizes digital asset transactions in Russia, but the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for payment is still prohibited.

Despite this, the Russian Central Bank still believes that buying cryptocurrencies should not be considered an investment. Sergei Shvetsov, the first deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank, the Bank of Russia, stressed that "as a regulator, the Bank of Russia insists that buying cryptocurrencies is not an investment. It is more like a Ponzi scheme or a roulette game and is not suitable for financial markets. Neither the government nor financial intermediaries should encourage citizens to buy cryptocurrencies."

As previously reported by BitPush, as early as May 2019, Sberbank suspended its crypto-related plans due to the Russian Central Bank's opposition to the crypto industry.

Image source: Sberbank

AuthorLiang Che

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