Russia and Iran may be working together to develop a new stablecoin, a crypto pegged to another asset or currency. This stablecoin would then have the underlying value of gold. It should be possible to carry out international transactions while avoiding the world’s reserve currency, the US dollar. The Russian organization Vedomosti announced this on January 16.
Stablecoin as a catalyst for global trade
The president of the Russian Association of Crypto Industry and Blockchain (RACIB), Alexander Brazhnikov, indicates that the underlying value of this stablecoin will therefore be gold. Iran and Russia have been strengthening their cooperation for some time, partly because of the sanctions. The joint development of this stablecoin should become a catalyst for the growth of trade between the two countries.
A Russian government member reports that this plan will only come to fruition if the entire crypto sector is regulated in Russia. The developments in Russia and Iran regarding crypto are remarkable. On the one hand, both countries have banned their citizens from using crypto coins as a means of payment. On the other hand, the governments of both countries are hard at work implementing blockchain technology and mining.
Not just Russia and Iran
Especially the application to the growth of trade is a focus of both countries. In August of last year, the use of crypto in Iran was allowed for import. This had to do with the imposed international sanctions, which the country is trying to circumvent.
Russia has made the same choice since the sanctions imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine. There too, crypto was allowed for international trade. No details were released about which crypto assets this is exactly.
In addition to Iran and Russia, the European Union and the US government are also busy developing a stablecoin, but then linked to national currencies. These stablecoins should significantly speed up the international payment system. The launch of this central bank digital currencies (CBDC), however, will take some time.