π’œ 𝒹𝒾𝑔𝒾𝓉𝒢𝓁 π‘…π“Šπ’·π“π‘’. π’œ π’’π‘œπ“‹π‘’π“‡π“ƒπ“‚π‘’π“ƒπ“‰`π“ˆ π’»π‘œπ“‡π’·π’Ύπ’Ήπ’Ήπ‘’π“ƒ π’»π“‡π“Šπ’Ύπ“‰ π‘”π“‡π‘œπ“Œπ’Ύπ“ƒπ‘” 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒒𝒢𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓃 π‘œπ’» 𝐸𝒹𝑒𝓃? 🍎

 

By Rene Gruner, Cβ‚ΏP, Chief Editor and Futurist at BankSith.com.Switzerland

 

 

Background

 

The Bank of Russia intends to enhance the payment system so that it meets the changing needs of individuals and businesses and promotes the deployment of innovations in both the financial market and the economy in general. Therefore, the Bank of Russia is exploring the possibilities and prospects of the introduction of a digital ruble – the digital form of the Russian national currency.

In Russia and in the world, the use of digital financial technologies is expanding; digital money is increasingly used in everyday transactions. Under current, relentless digitization of money and in business processes, society creates a request for increasing speed, convenience and safety of monetary transactions.

Many central banks are actively discussing the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Responding to the changing needs of citizens and businesses, the Bank of Russia is assessing the possibilities and prospects for issuing a digital ruble.Β 

The digital ruble is a digital form of the Russian national currency, which the Bank of Russia will issue in addition to existing forms of money (cash and non-cash rubles).

Β Citizens will have the opportunity to credit digital rubles to their electronic wallets and use them using mobile devices and other media, both online and in the absence of Internet access (that is, offline).

The use of advanced technologies in the development of the digital ruble will help to reduce the costs of settlements and increase financial affordability, as well as give an impetus to the further improvement of payment technologies. All these aspects, along with the unconditional requirement to ensure information security, will be taken into account by the Bank of Russia in its further work on the digital ruble project, when choosing specific functional and technological solutions.

No decision has been taken yet to introduce a digital ruble, and it is premature to specify definitive timeline for its launch.The Bank of Russia is going to develop a digital ruble step-by-step. The Bank of Russia will explore the possibilities and prospects for the launch of a digital ruble and elaborate the concept of a digital ruble incorporating the feedback from the public consultations, after which it is going to first pilot a digital ruble with a limited number of users and develop a digital ruble platform. Only after this, the Bank of Russia will consider whether the launch of a digital ruble is appropriate and map out the subsequent steps of its introduction. The timeline of these stages will be determined at a later date, with due regard to the outcome of the public consultations.

Source :https://cbr.ru/press/event/?id=8175

A digital Ruble – consultation paper -Bank of Russia website: www.cbr.ru

 

Key TakeawayΒ 

So far so good. But does it really look that easy? Whether the Bank of Russia will use a distributed ledger, a centralized system or a hybrid remains an open question but with CBDC, citizens might give up a little bit of control over their personal wealth. What might become much easier with CBDC

➫ Manipulate the money supply.
➫ Control who can send money to whom.
➫ Control over foreign currency transactions.
➫ Shut down ATMs to prevent bank runs.

 

If you live in a democracy with free speech and trust in your leaders, most people can accept that. But if you live in countries with an alternative understanding of democracy, and where inflation may eat you alive, you have nowhere to run. But remember, when you own your Bitcoin’s private keys, you have permissionless, immutable and decentralized money that no government can confiscate. Be your own Bank! #bitcoin

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