<![CDATA[<figure class="image"><img src="https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/adobestock-635764942.jpeg" alt="A US dollar banknote on bed of scattered Russian ruble banknotes." srcset="https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/responsive-images/adobestock-635764942___media_library_original_1500_1000.jpeg 1500w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/responsive-images/adobestock-635764942___media_library_original_1200_800.jpeg 1200w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/responsive-images/adobestock-635764942___media_library_original_900_600.jpeg 900w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/responsive-images/adobestock-635764942___media_library_original_720_480.jpeg 720w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/responsive-images/adobestock-635764942___media_library_original_600_400.jpeg 600w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329439/responsive-images/adobestock-635764942___media_library_original_300_200.jpeg 300w" width="1500" class="content-img"><figcaption>Source: Oleg/Adobe</figcaption></figure>The launch of <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/russia/">Russia</a>&rsquo;s <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/CBDC">CBDC</a>, the digital ruble, will help spur de-dollarization, a former government minister has claimed.Per the media outlet <a href="https://kvnews.ru/news-feed/183472" rel="nofollow">KV News</a>, the comments were made by the MP Sergei Kalashnikov, formerly the Minister of Labor and Social Development and the first deputy chairman of the Sate Duma&rsquo;s Committee on Economic Policy.Kalashnikov stated that the CBDC would help the country fight against black market dollar trading.The phenomenon that has dogged Russia since Soviet times.He said:<blockquote>&ldquo;In the currency exchange sphere, the digital ruble will dramatically reduce the possibility of official currency [going] to the black market. That will adjust [the ruble&rsquo;s] value. And therefore, of course, the wider use of the digital ruble will affect the dollar&rsquo;s growth against the ruble.&rdquo;</blockquote>The ruble&rsquo;s worth against the USD has fallen sharply since the start of this year, tumbling by over a third in the past 12 months.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/rub-vs-usd-1209.jpg" alt="A graph showing ruble prices versus USD prices over the past 12 months." srcset="https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/responsive-images/rub-vs-usd-1209___media_library_original_1747_465.jpg 1747w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/responsive-images/rub-vs-usd-1209___media_library_original_1200_319.jpg 1200w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/responsive-images/rub-vs-usd-1209___media_library_original_900_240.jpg 900w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/responsive-images/rub-vs-usd-1209___media_library_original_720_192.jpg 720w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/responsive-images/rub-vs-usd-1209___media_library_original_600_160.jpg 600w, https://cimg.co/news/124718/329440/responsive-images/rub-vs-usd-1209___media_library_original_300_80.jpg 300w" width="1747" class="content-img"><figcaption>Ruble prices versus USD prices over the past 12 months. (Source: XE.com)</figcaption></figure>The Central Bank has been attempting to reverse this trend, and has high hopes for its fast-tracked CBDC project.The bank launched an 11-city pilot last month, with <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/600-russians-trial-cbdc-next-week-digital-ruble-pilot-begins.htm">600 Russian citizens and 13 commercial banks trialing &ldquo;real-world&rdquo; transactions</a>.<h2 id="russias-digital-ruble-a-de-dollarization-tool">Russia&rsquo;s Digital Ruble: A De-dollarization Tool?</h2>The Central Bank has talked up the &ldquo;cross-border&rdquo; potential of its coin, while lawmakers have suggested allowing foreign investors to buy &ldquo;millions&rdquo; of tokens.Moscow appears keen to use the token as part of its de-dollarization efforts in the international trade sector.The Kremlin has been trying to de-couple from the dollar since 2014, and has <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/russia-wants-to-use-the-digital-ruble-to-power-its-usd-purge-9723.htm">spoken about ways its digital ruble could help this process since 2021</a>.Chinese thinkers have also <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/digital-fiats-will-help-us-de-dollarize-claims-chinese-academic.htm">recently suggested</a> that digital fiats will help the country and its allies &ldquo;break USD hegemony.&rdquo;But Kalashnikov&rsquo;s comments appear to indicate that the Russian government also wants to target the domestic black market, which has reportedly been thriving under Western-led sanctions regimes.Notable investors have railed at the Central Bank, claiming that citizens&rsquo; savings are being eroded by the falling RUB.The Central Bank has stated that it has no intention to outlaw cash or &ldquo;force&rdquo; citizens to use its CBDC.But it has <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/russian-central-bank-may-mark-cbdc-tokens-track-digital-ruble-transactions.htm">also talked of &ldquo;marking&rdquo; tokens in certain situations</a>, to allow it and other parties to better trace transactions.If this were applied to all digital ruble tokens, the ruble-USD black market would find itself under existential threat.While this scenario remains unlikely, such a drive could see a rise in the use of crypto to send Russian money abroad.In March this year, Transparency International&rsquo;s Russia branch claimed it had found evidence that Russians were <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/russians-reportedly-using-crypto-exchanges-send-usdt-uk-heres-how.htm">using the USDT stablecoin to send money to locations such as the UK &ndash; via &ldquo;illegal&rdquo; Moscow-based crypto exchanges and brokers</a>.
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Digital Ruble ‘Could Help De-Dollarize’ Russia, Ex-Gov’t Minister Claims

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