Russian Central Bank Wants to Spearhead the Blockchain Revolution

02.06.2017

Blockchain will see mass adoption in seven to ten years at least, Deputy Chairwoman of Russian Central Bank Olga Skorobogatova believes.

Speaking at panel discussion Blockchain: the Birth of a New Economy at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, she also conceded that the regulator is once again considering creation of a national cryptocurrency.

Answering the panel moderator’s question as to should the regulator return to the concept of so-called Bitruble, Olga Skorobogatova said:

“We’ll sure end up with a virtual national currency, and we’ve already started working on that. In fact, all regulators have concluded that they should make a virtual national currency. This is the future. It’s just a question of time.”

According to her, Russia is known for its ‘great national feature’ that she described as “we are slow starters, but we drive fast.” She believes it’s totally applicable to the situation with blockchain.

“In the financial area and state entities we’re spending a lot of time on discussions, harmonization of activities and some subtle issues like some legal issues. But we create lots of pilot projects with market players, so we’ll be able to see the results very soon,” she noted.

Olga Skorobogatova noted that the Central Bank as a regulator has made one right decision:

“If a revolution is inevitable, one shall be at the head of it,” she said.

Notably, exactly a year ago today, the director of the Central Bank’s department for financial technologies, projects and process organization Vadim Kalukhov stated that the regulator has dropped the idea of creating a national cryptocurrency.

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Tags: blockchain, Russia