Yesterday the Bank of Russia launched a pilot of a digital ruble central bank digital currency (CBDC) with a dozen banks, including the largest Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank and Alfa Bank.
The central bank said the pilot aims to enable a seamless transition from one form of the ruble to another, so it wants to make sure the banks can adapt their systems.
Russia’s thinking is not always the same as other central banks, particularly when it comes to the digital ruble. The central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina highlighted some noteworthy points during a BIS talk earlier this week. These issues, including concerns about creating even larger too-big-to-fail banks, could well be relevant to other countries.
“Digital technologies will have a profound effect on monetary systems. New types of money will appear,” said Nabiullina. “In order to prevent such problems as the fragmentation of monetary systems, and in the extreme, competition between private and public money, central banks need to both design appropriate regulation and build (the) necessary infrastructures.”
She recognized that many central banks are worried about big techs such as Facebook and Ant and the potential for global stablecoins to challenge monetary sovereignty. That’s not such an issue in Russia. However, Russia is concerned about the possibility for digital currencies to create far bigger banking monopolies than currently exist, which could crowd out competition.
Read more: https://www.ledgerinsights.com/russia-launches-cbdc-digital-ruble-trial-with-12-banks-motivations/
