The Central Bank does not plan to legalize bitcoin following the example of El Salvador, according to the chairman of the regulator.

She noted that almost none of the countries admits the possible recognition of bitcoin as an official currency. According to Nabiullina, the Central Bank is “rather restrained” about digital assets. “This is a monetary surrogate, and we are against the idea of cryptocurrencies as private digital ones, even I don’t want to call them money, used for settlements within the country,” the Central Bank chairman said.

Meanwhile, Nabiullina stressed that it is necessary to give citizens and businesses a convenient method of payment, which can be a digital ruble.