Russian president Vladimir Putin said that he is supporting for a state-issued cryptocurrency - the cryptoruble.
In a closed-doors meeting between Putin and Moscow’s political elites at the city’s Capital Club, Putin led the decision to have Russia issue its own cryptocurrency. Details about the meeting were revealed by Russian minister of Communications and Mass Communications Nikolai Nikiforov.
The senior government official also said that the cryptoruble is developed and issued "quickly" by the Russian state. Nikiforov also said unlike other cryptocurrencies, the crytoruble cannot be mined.
On the other hand, a Russian company owned by Putin's advisor Dmitry Marinichev has planned to raise some $100 million through bitcoin mining. Like China, cryptocurrency trading in Russia is illegal. But mining cryptocurrency is legal.
The minister said in a statement:
The cryptoruble is meant to be the cryptocurrency of Russia. As a legal tender in the Russian Federation, it will also see certain adopters incur personal income tax. If the owner is unable to declare the source of cryptorubles, a flat tax of 13 percent will be levied when converting the cryptocurrency into Russian rubles. Similarly, an automatic 13 percent tax will also be levied on the earned difference of transactions involving buying and selling a crypotoruble.
"It will, most likely, be a closed model with a certain volume of regulated emissions’" added Nikiforov in roughly translated statements, detailing the digital ruble further. The creation cryptoruble should not be read as an endorsement, nor any effort to legalize decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the minister added.
The first hint for Russia in creating its own cryptocurrency was reported back in April 2016. At that time, the first public comments on Russia’s national digital currency saw Olga Skorobogatov, deputy chairwoman of Russia’s central bank, hint at a 'hybrid network' of both public and private blockchain protocols leading to a unified distributed ledger powering a national digital currency.
The Central Bank of Russia has been testing a number of digital currency pilots toward the development of a national digital currency.
Previously, the first deputy governor of Russia’s central bank revealed the government's intention to block all websites that provide cryptocurrency services. Also on that day, Putin spoke of "serious risks" with cryptocurrencies while acknowledging their growth in "becoming or have already become a full-fledged means of payment, as well as a means of investment" in countries around the world.
Earlier in the month, Dubai has announced its own cryptocurrency, the emCash.
