Bank of Russia opposes use of ‘unclear’ Bitcoin

The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, again signalled the regulator’s scepticism toward digital currencies. The RBC reports on this.

She spoke out against using cryptocurrencies for payments between citizens.

“We regard the so-called cryptocurrencies with considerable restraint. They are a monetary surrogate, and we are against using cryptocurrencies — even if one would not want to call them money — for settlements within the country,” Nabiullina said.

In her words, the transnational market for digital assets is difficult to constrain at the national level. The head of the Bank of Russia stressed the inadmissibility of comparing cryptocurrencies and the digital ruble, since the latter is backed by the central bank.

“We need to provide citizens and businesses with convenient means of payment; technology makes this possible. But this must be done at the national level so that it is clear who bears responsibility, not private anonymous individuals who issue unclear crypto assets,” Nabiullina concluded.

Earlier in February, the head of the Bank of Russia stated that Bitcoin is not a currency, and the rise in its price merely “demonstrates the potential volatility” of cryptocurrencies.

In May she acknowledged that central bank digital currencies will become the future of financial systems.

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