President Vladimir Putin has officially stated that Russia will issue its own ‘CryptoRuble’ at a closed door meeting in Moscow, according to local russian news sources (via Cointelegraph). The news broke through Minister of Communications Nikolay Nikiforov.
The state issued cryptocurrency cannot be mined and will be issued and controlled and maintained only by the authorities. The CryptoRubles can be exchanged for regular Rubles at any time, though if the holder is unable to explain where the CryptoRubles came from, a 13 percent tax will be levied.
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.
Russia will try to profit and tax speculation and money laundering.