Russia may issue gold-backed digital ruble

Russia may issue gold-backed stablecoins for international settlements, said Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market, following his visit to Iran.

“We discussed the issuance of stablecoins, digital financial assets, secured by certain values. For example, I talked about gold,” the official said. “The proposal was met with interest, meaning we’re moving in the right direction.”

According to Aksakov, Iran has a huge debt for goods deliveries from Russia, and fluctuations of the Iranian currency are quite large, given that the country has two exchange rates against the dollar – the one approved by the Central Bank and the market rate. All this creates inconveniences for Russian exporters.

Last summer, Russia’s VEB.RF institution released a report discussing the advantages of a “gold ruble” – a gold-backed digital ruble more akin to a steblecoin, transactions with which are almost impossible to block.