BRICS member states could create a cryptocurrency to function “as an alternative to other payment instruments.”
According to Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, investments in the bloc, which consists of Russia, India, South Africa, China and Brazil, is set to increase up to fourfold within the next three years.
“One other topic we’re discussing on the financial committee is cryptocurrency,” he told journalists quoted by Russian news outlet RIA Novosti.
“It may even be possible to discuss creating a BRICS cryptocurrency as an alternative to other financial instruments, and that’s what’s being debated as part of the BRICS Business Council.”
National currencies currently form the medium of exchange from cross-bloc settlements, changes to which are a topic of interest due among other things to the increasing strength of the US dollar.
Russia itself is busy preparing its own centralized cryptocurrency, which has been informally dubbed the “BitRuble” or “CryptoRuble.”
“[...] Cryptocurrencies are also becoming a point of discussion as a possible settlements mechanism,” Dmitriev continued.
“It may be wholly called for, for specific settlements and could be a good alternative to the dollar and other settlement methods.”
National governments in Russia, India and South Africa, in particular, are seeing huge increases in cryptocurrency interest from citizens, with Russia appearing to respond with threats of banning access for unauthorized citizens.
South Africa recently registered as the country googling ‘Bitcoin’ the most per capita.