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Russia will issue its own official cryptocurrency, the CryptoRuble, capping months of speculation about the country’s approach to the technology. The move will propel Russia into the digital currency market and pit it against rival Bitcoin.
Details are scarce, but according to the reports, the CryptoRuble cannot be mined, but will be issued and tracked by the government like ordinary currency. That does away with one of the primary draws of cryptocurrencies, of course: some would say that the entire point of something like Bitcoin is to free commerce from the fetters of government-run fiat currencies. The CryptoRuble does appear to be blockchain-based, however, which gives it at least a veneer of decentralization and could help prevent things like online fraud. Rubles and CryptoRubles (I’m hoping they drop the camel caps) will be able to be freely exchanged, though how exactly is unknown — an official exchange seems likely, but unofficial markets are inevitable.
