The Bank of Russia, the country'due south central banking concern, has reportedly started testing stablecoins pegged to real assets in a regulatory sandbox.

Elvira Nabiullina, Russia'southward central depository financial institution head, said that the bank doesn't presume that those stablecoins will part as a means of payment or become a substitute for money, Russian news service Interfax reported on December. 25.

Nabiullina noted that the Bank of Russia is exploring the potential uses of stablecoins — cryptocurrencies that are pegged to another asset to prevent the volatility associated with crypto markets. She said:

"We are testing stablecoins in our regulatory 'sandbox'. Nosotros see companies willing to issue tokens pegged to certain real avails. In our regulatory sandbox, we are learning the potential uses of stablecoins but nosotros do not assume that they will function every bit a means of payment and become a surrogate for money ."

The Bank of Russian federation also wants to explore CBDCs based on global experience

Co-ordinate to the report, the Russian central bank is also continuing to explore the possibility of issuing its ain primal banking company digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble, Nabiullina said. The official emphasized that the bank first wants to understand the potential benefits of CBDCs based on the feel of other jurisdictions effectually the earth.

However, Nabiullina warned that the issuance of the digital ruble could lead to some "serious consequences" including changes in the financial market structure such as deposit outflows.

Nabiullina says cryptocurrencies in Russia have lost popularity over the past 2 years

Additionally, the head of Russia'southward central bank noted that the popularity of cryptocurrencies in Russian federation has dropped over the past two years. However, in that location are people who nonetheless believe in the possibility of individual money without government interest, Nabiullina said. Regarding this issue, the official claimed:

"We are confronting individual coin. If some digital currencies were designed to become a substitute for individual money, nosotros could not back up that."

The recent news comes in line with earlier public announcements from the Bank of Russia. Every bit such, Nabiullina said that the banking company was exploring the opportunity to launch a CBDC in June 2022. All the same, the authority didn't expect to roll out such initiatives in the near future, as reported at the time.

While Russia is planning to follow other countries in testing their CBDCs, France recently revealed its intention to become the first global jurisdiction to pilot its own digital euro projection. On December. four, François Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of the Bank of French republic, announced that the bank volition beginning testing the digital euro projection past the end of the outset quarter of 2022.