A Russian presidential adviser has proposed to adopt a digital currency in Crimea to attract investors and avoid Western sanctions in the Russia-annexed part of Ukraine’s Crimea, Eurasia Daily reports.
Sergey Glazyev, advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin on regional economic integration, urged the government to adopt “digital money technologies” to reduce “cross-border barriers,” the official said at the Yalta International Economic Forum (YIEF).
According to Glazyev, adoption of digital currencies will “sharply reduce cross-border barriers” and will attract foreign investors who “are afraid of sanctions,” which are “generally carried out through the banks.”
The official reportedly elaborated that digital money such as stablecoins, which are pegged to gold or other physical assets, are able to “pass the border, and cannot be hampered by sanctions.”
Glazyev further suggested creating a “stable digital token” that would be pegged to cost per square meter in Crimea in order to raise funds for the large-scale construction of health resorts.
Glazyev has frequently voiced his positive stance on blockchain technology. In 2018, he noted the unrestricted nature of digital money, emphasizing that it is not subject to any unpredictable sanctions and can reduce political risk.
