The Central Bank of Russia is testing a number of digital currency pilots toward the development of a national digital currency, this crypto currency of R will be the first cryptocurrency created by a government .

Speaking at the 2017 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum today, deputy chairwoman of Russia’s central bank Olga Skorobogatova has, in a significant revelation, stated that the regulator is working on a national digital currency.

According to a report by TASS, Russia’s largest news agency, Skorobogatova sees national cryptocurrencies as the future and the main main key of the development of russia economy in the next few years, and claimed that it’s merely a matter of time before countries around the world adopt national digital currencies.

She stated:

Regulators of all countries agree that it’s time to develop national cryptocurrencies, this is the future. Every country will decide on specific time frames. After our pilot projects, we will understand what system we could sue in our case for our national currency. Advertisement: :

Based on a Hybrid Blockchain?

As CCN reported in April 2016, Skorobogatova’s first public comments on a national digital currency hinted at a ‘hybrid network’ of both public and private blockchain protocols to create a unified distributed ledger leading to a national digital currency.

While details of the digital currency pilots are currently scarce, it is notable that the Bank of Russia has already developed and tested an Ethereum-based interbank blockchain prototype in 2016. Titled ‘MasterChain’, the blockchain prototype saw Russia’s largest banks participate in the financial messaging pilot, drawing speculation of a SWIFT-like financial messaging platform for Russia’s banks, operated by the central bank.