Moscow To Issue Its Own Cryptocurrency ‘MoscowCoin’

Off lately, Russia’s plans pertaining to move forward with virtual digital currencies or cryptocurrencies have been quite whimsical and there is no clear plan of action. As Russia is already preparing to launch its own cryptocurrency “CryptoRuble” , the national capital of Russia is discussing plans to have its separate cryptocurrency, called “MoscowCoin”.

Last week, Vladimir Efimov, the head of the Moscow department of economic policy and development confirmed that the capital city of Russia is currently discussing plans for issuing “MoscowCoin”.

“The Moscow government plans to create its own cryptocurrency, we are thinking about this topic”, said Efimov.

He further added: “Before implementing such technologies in the city, you need an understanding of how this will be resolved at the federal level…When there is a clear understanding of what can and cannot be done, where it is possible [to use] and where it is impossible, we, of course, will adapt to this.”

 Efimov said that the local government of Moscow City is currently working towards implementing the Blockchain technology in the resident-facing web services and portals. “We are discussing the implementation of blockchain technology on the basis of the city’s metropolitan services. We have a whole range of different portals and various forms of interaction with citizens, and now we are actively working out the question of how to implement this technology.”

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 While referring to another scope for the use of MoscowCoin, Efimov said: “As an option, Moscowcoin can be used by residents of the city on the ‘Active citizen’ portal.”

In 2014, Moscow government had started the ‘Active Citizen’ project “as a venue for holding open referendums in electronic form.” This platform engages a lot of local citizens to discuss issues pertaining to the city across sectors of education, health, transport and city landscaping. By participating in this initiative, users are rewarded with points which they can redeem at different places for paying for services like parking, theatres, museums, etc.

Using the ‘Active Citizen’ portal for testing, Efimov said : “when we talk about the cryptocurrency, it means wider circulation, rather than narrowly focused. The prototype already exists – everyone has points, some loyalty cards. It’s just a matter of where and how you can use it.”

 However, note that this is not for the first time that the city has been discussing MoscowCoin. Earlier this year in August, while discussing with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) Chairman Sergei Gorkov said: “in the future, Moscow might start issuing its own cryptocurrency.”

 Later the local authorities said that there are limitations to proceeding with this plan as the federal government is in charge of issuing money. As per the representative of the federal government, “the subjects of the Russian Federation do not have such powers. Monetary emission under Art. 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.”

 Hence referring to this legal matters, Efimov said :“Use [of Moscowcoin] will be possible only after the legislative and legal framework at the federal level is formulated.”

 Recently, Russian president Vladimir Putin has shown some personal interest in cryptocurrency and plans for Russia’s own cryptocurrency and said that a national cryptocurrency “CryptoRuble” will be created.

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Also Read: China May Launch It’s Own Cryptocurrency