Russian official believes that the issuance of gold-backed stablecoin will be discussed only after Russia decides to legalise crypto.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI), also known as Bank Markazi or the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is reportedly collaborating with Russia’s government to launch a gold-backed stablecoin.
According to the news report shared by Russia’s news agency Vedomosti on January 15th, the news was revealed by the Executive Director of the Russian Association of the Crypto Industry and Blockchain, Alexander Brazhnikov.
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The Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications member Anton Tkachev confirmed the news. Tkachev stated that both institutions are currently negotiating the matter. However, the Duma Committee member highlighted that the issuance of such stablecoin will be discussed only after cryptocurrencies become legal in Russia.
At the beginning of December, Vedomosti reported that Russia’s lower house of parliament is expecting to start regulating crypto-related transactions in 2023.
The new “token of the Persian Gulf region” would replace United States dollars, the Russian ruble or the Iranian rial in foreign trade settlements. The gold-backed stablecoin would likely operate in a special economic zone in Astrakhan, where Russians are accepting Iranian cargo shipments.
It can be assumed that the collaboration between Russia and Iran is an attempt for both countries to circumvent hefty sanction packages coming from the West.
In September 2022, the Central Bank of Russia agreed that cryptocurrencies can be used for international payments. At that time, the authorities in the country claimed that the geopolitical situation and various sanctions pushed Russia into considering legalizing crypto. Moreover, Russia went the extra mile and announced its plans to use its central bank digital currency (CBDC) for international trading settlements with Russia.
On the other hand, in August, Iran issued its first international import order using $10 million worth of cryptocurrency and allowed citizens to use cryptocurrency to pay for imports.
