Russia Urges 4 Other Countries to Develop Common Approach to Cryptocurrencies

The Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has asked the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union countries to jointly develop a common approach to cryptocurrencies. Both the Russian central bank and the prime minister believe that cryptocurrencies should not be restricted to one nation’s framework.

A Common Approach to Cryptocurrencies

Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev urged the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to develop a common approach to cryptocurrencies, Tass reported. At “The Digital Agenda in the Era of Globalization” forum on Friday, he expressed the necessity of bringing together “approaches to cryptocurrencies within the framework of the EAEU.”

The EAEU has five member countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. Other than Medvedev, the meeting was attended by Prime Minister of Armenia Karen V. Karapetyan, Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Vladimirovich Kobyakov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Abdirovich Sagintayev, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Sapar Dzhumakadirovich Isakov, and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran S. Sargsyan.

Regarding cryptocurrencies, Medvedev told the other EAEU leaders:

We should not be locked into the framework of the national model…It is impossible to implement these principles within one country; we need to bring our approaches closer to the level of the Union…Otherwise, all this will be under a completely different angle to develop and will not look completely understandable and legitimate.

Citing that some of his peers said that “it would be possible to pay with cryptocurrencies,” Medvedev was quoted saying, “Let’s take a closer look because our economies are too tightly and closely related.” The prime minister also suggested preparing international conventions of cryptocurrencies, stressing the need to “synchronize efforts in this area with the EAEU countries.”

Russian Central Bank Agrees
In late December, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova, said that the bank supports the idea of issuing a supranational cryptocurrency in the territory of EAEU or within the BRICS countries. She was quoted by Vedomosti:

The introduction of the national digital currency seems to us not entirely justified from the point of view of macroeconomics…The question that seems to us worth discussing on the site with our colleagues is the introduction of a digital currency in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union or within the BRICS.