Building of the Central Bank of Russia

NVO/wikipedia.org

The Central Bank of Russia, the main issuing and monetary organization of the country, has begun to develop a national virtual currency. This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the financial organization Olga Skorobogatova, as reported by RIA Novosti. “In fact, all regulators came to the conclusion that, of course, a national virtual currency should be created. This is the future. It’s a matter of specific timing,” noted the bank’s representative, without specifying the details of the project.

Traditionally, the term “virtual currency” refers to private fiat money that is accepted as a means of payment for virtual goods and services in certain areas, for example, online games. Virtual currency is not legal tender and is not generally considered convertible. In some cases, virtual currency may be conditionally convertible when used as an electronic substitute for real money.

Skorobogatova probably meant the intention of the Central Bank of Russia to create a national electronic currency. Electronic currency, or electronic money, is usually a means of payment for services or goods used online and accepted by a wide range of organizations. In some cases, electronic money may be covered by the issuer's obligations. This means that the organization that issued this electronic money undertakes to exchange it for real currency upon request.

According to the Russian law “On the National Payment System,” to put it simply, electronic money is money that one person gave to another or several people in exchange for services or goods using exclusively electronic means. In general, electronic currency is not prohibited in the country. For example, electronic money Yandex.Money, Webmoney and RBK Money are widely used online. The Central Bank of Russia and the Russian authorities have a negative attitude towards new cryptocurrencies, in particular, due to the inability to trace the entire chain of transactions.

The idea of ​​creating a national electronic currency in Russia has been discussed over the past few years, but no real steps have been taken in this direction yet. At the end of May last year, the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring of Russia, which is responsible for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, held a consultation with several Russian financial organizations about the possibility of creating a national cryptocurrency. It is unknown how the consultations ended.

It was assumed that if the creation of a national cryptocurrency was approved, it would not be emission-free. This means that one or another organization will have to be responsible for issuing the currency, including its provision, and not its usual generation by computer systems, as happens in free cryptocurrencies. To exchange cryptocurrency for real money, special electronic exchange platforms licensed by the Central Bank of Russia can be created. In this case, when exchanging currency, the identities of the buyer and seller will necessarily be identified.

In April of this year, Japanese authorities announced virtual currency and legalized the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum in the country. Thanks to this, this electronic money in Japan can be used for mutual settlements. Japanese firms, whose internal rules allow working with cryptocurrency, can now use Bitcoin and Ethtereum for mutual settlements with each other. In addition, companies and individuals can purchase this virtual money as a commodity, not subject to the mandatory eight percent consumption tax.

Meanwhile, despite the adoption of the law on virtual currencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum specified in it did not become legal tender in Japan. This means that companies and individuals cannot use this currency to directly purchase goods and services. Instead, they are required to use the services of registered exchange offices. In order to obtain the status of a registered cryptocurrency exchange, a company in Japan, according to the new law, must have a registered capital of at least ten million yen ($88.2 thousand) and a secure computer system.

Vasily Sychev

No one asks Bitcoin holders for their passport details or source of funds. Therefore, thousands of people buy anything with them, anywhere, without fear of fiscal authorities or the police.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoins are a decentralized electronic currency, that is, without a single emission center, which can be used completely anonymously through secure Internet protocols.

The system appeared in 2008, when a certain Japanese programmer (or a group of programmers - no one knows) under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto wrote a report on the value of new money: their quantity does not have any clear limit, but to “mine” each new virtual coin you need to spend a significant amount of computer computing power. Computer power - value. This means that the bitcoins mined by them using a special algorithm can also be valuable.

Creator of Bitcoin- an idealist who dreams of laying the foundation of a new world, free from the influence of governments and corporations, with the help of a new electronic currency, not backed by the guarantees of any state treasury. This new society should be structured in the way that seems reasonable to engineers who believe that the world of the future should be based not on power institutions and capitalists, but computer technology and the true freedom that the anonymous Internet provides.

So far, however, this new world is very far away: the entire volume of issued bitcoins is only $8 billion - this is so small that control over the exchange rate could theoretically be obtained by any financial cartel that buys them all.

To earn bitcoins, that is, to engage in so-called mining, you need to download free application(for Windows, OS X, Linux) and run the complex process of solving a resource-intensive mathematical problem on your computer. The more powerful the computer, the higher the probability of mining bitcoins and the longer he is engaged in this process. New money is generated by a network node every time a solution to a new problem is found. The computer solved it - the user received 25 bitcoins.

The system does not have a single center(the entire network transfers data directly between computers, as is the case with torrents and other peer-to-peer networks), and a complex algorithm is designed in such a way that no more than 10.5 million bitcoins are created every four years of the system’s existence. The amount of money created halves every four years. Thus, this digital money has real value: since the resource is limited, but in demand, its real value can be calculated based on the balance of supply and demand.

As the number of people trying to generate new bitcoins grows, the problems that require computers to solve become more complex and therefore require more and more computing power. In essence, this all resembles a lottery: the longer you “play” and the more powerful the computer, the greater the chances of success. And as long as there is demand for cryptocurrency, it has real value.

Demand is still growing steadily: since Bitcoin does not have any administration, and all operations are based on transactions electronic money and their exchange for real dollars is anonymous, the currency is in demand among a very wide range of Internet users, from geeks and professional investors to all sorts of criminals who hide taxes here or buy drugs with this money. All this fits perfectly into the general logic of an ideal world, according to advanced IT specialists: without borders, without a limiter in the form of the state, without any prohibitions, etc. Also, anonymity should ensure complete security of all transactions, and since there is no single center for issuing bitcoins, not a single state in the world will be able to control the issue of this money or, for example, start the inflation process in order to solve their financial problems at the expense of currency holders. In this sense, the Bitcoin currency, which is not controlled by anyone other than its direct users, is an excellent alternative to dollars, euros or rubles.

Over the past two months, the rate of the electronic currency has changed sharply more than once. At the beginning of November 2013, one bitcoin cost $300, at the beginning of December - $1,200, and after the Central Bank of China banned financial companies from conducting transactions with bitcoins, the rate dropped to $900.

Norwegian student Christopher Koch bought $27 worth of bitcoins in 2009. For this money, he managed to purchase 5,000 units of virtual currency. In April 2013, Koch cashed out the money, netting a total of $885,000.

An American with the nickname Laszlo in May 2010 purchased two pizzas with onions, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes for 10 thousand bitcoins. He was interested in paying for a real product with virtual money. At that time, 10 thousand bitcoins were equal to 50 dollars. Laszlo ate two pizzas, and on November 19, 2013, when the cryptocurrency rate reached its peak, he wrote a heartbreaking post that if he had kept his virtual money then, he would now have a fortune of $9 million.

Virtual to real

Electronic currency has begun to be taken into account in the real world. The University of Nicosia (Cyprus) became the first university in the world to accept Bitcoin as payment for tuition. And the US Federal Reserve began to show interest in the system. But the regulator so far says that it does not have the ability to control the system. Moreover, during hearings in the US Senate, bitcoins were recognized as a “legal medium of exchange.”

The Thai government went against the trend and banned the use of cryptocurrency due to the inability to control the circulation of this virtual money. But this does not prevent two electronic exchanges for the exchange and purchase and sale of digital money from operating in the country at once - Bahtcoin and Coinmill.

To exchange virtual money for real, you need to use one of the many exchangers. The most popular of them is the Japanese exchange MtGox, which in exchange for bitcoins sends real money to a bank account at the exchange rate at the time of the transaction.

Do Bitcoins have real value?

No. But real money doesn’t have it either: the United States abandoned the gold standard back in the 1970s, and now the value of dollars is determined solely by trust in the US Federal Reserve and its policies. The situation is similar with almost all world currencies. But if the real value of traditional money is determined by financial institutions, then there is no regulator except the users themselves. Therefore, you can certainly trust the system.

What is the reason for the growing popularity of Bitcoin?

With the distrust of millions of people in traditional financial and government institutions. Scandals with WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden's revelations show that the authorities of all countries of the world, without exception, do not always work for the interests of their citizens. And the financial crisis of 2008 once again showed that the global financial system is by no means a stable institution.

What can you buy with bitcoins?

In Russia there is practically nothing. But that's it for now. But you can order anything from the United States: electronics, clothing, or any other goods.

Why don't governments ban them?

It is impossible to ban Bitcoin and immediately stop using the system. Cryptocurrency can only be defeated at the cost of a full-scale cyber war and real criminal prosecution of users. So far, no government in the world is doing this, because the number of Bitcoin users in each individual country is relatively small, and therefore there is no real threat to the existing order in the world.

Is collapse inevitable?

The future of Bitcoin may be very bleak. The Financial Times notes that the advantages of the system - in particular the complete absence of inflation - could lead to its demise. As the demand for the currency continues to grow and there is no room to increase its supply, the price of Bitcoin will become higher and higher. Sooner or later, this will lead to the fact that the majority of virtual money in circulation will be concentrated in a small number of people. And then the majority of users will simply lose interest in the system, because in order for prices for goods and services not to decrease as the popularity of the system grows, more and more funds need to be put into circulation. But there is simply no possibility of quickly issuing money.

In addition, the USA and other powerful countries of the world may legally restrict the use of bitcoins. This will almost certainly happen once the number of users of the system is so large that many people will choose to keep their money in bitcoins rather than in deposit accounts in real banks. True, it will not be so easy to restrict Internet users: to do this, the authorities will have to admit that they are ready to monitor the computers of Internet users. In existing on at the moment In the United States legal field this is absolutely impossible to imagine.

No one yet has a definite answer to the question about the future of bitcoins, but the system makes political scientists think: is our world with its states and currency systems really as stable as we thought until now? Probably not.

The world does not stand still, new technologies are emerging, and as you can see, people are gradually starting to use electronic currency. But many still do not take the risk of using electronic money, because they do not know what it is and how to use it. Most people think that electronic money is paper money that can be used to pay various internet services. For example, the Internet or mobile communications. But is this true? In this article you will learn what electronic money is, how it appeared, its pros and cons, and how to use it.

Electronic money: what is it?

Electronic money is virtual money that is used to pay for services and goods on the Internet. They have the same value as regular paper money. Stored in an electronic wallet. You can open it and then close it forever after a few minutes. You can transfer as much money as you need. For electronic money you can buy almost everything: an apartment, a car, groceries, which will then be delivered to you.

Virtual money can be earned on the Internet. Today, the Internet is an unlimited source of income. Some write articles for various Internet sites, others play poker or sell goods.

The history of electronic money

Just some time ago, it was difficult to imagine paying for any product or service without putting your hand in your pocket for your wallet. Even with the advent of the Internet, people did not immediately think about such a possibility. However, with the development of trade in the digital network, they also appeared - electronic money. Today, with their help, you can pay for almost any product, buy a plane or train ticket, and also transfer money to another person. The main difference between electronic money and a bank card is that in order to carry out transactions using it there is no need to have a connection with a bank.

The first electronic money service was eCash, created by University of California professor D. Chaum. His company did not last long, but it marked the beginning of the further development of this area. It took very little time to analyze the experience of eCash and the emergence of such giants as PayPal, MoneyBookers and others. Our Russian services were not going to lag behind Western companies either. In 1998, the now largest operator in our country and a number of CIS countries, WebMoney, carried out its first transaction. And a short time later, in 2002, another domestic giant, Yandex.Money, presented its product in the Internet space.

The possibilities of electronic money are growing every year, and the pace of this growth is not slowing down. More and more new business areas are being added to their area of ​​application. One of the positive factors about betting on these payment systems is the ease of converting them into real money. Any electronic money service allows you to link a bank card to your wallet, withdraw it to any other bank card, and also withdraw cash from specialized cash desks.

Pros of electronic currency

Virtual money has its pros and cons. Let's first look at the advantages of this electronic currency:

• For transfers within the system, the service charges a very low commission, compared to more conventional money transfer systems.
• To use the service, you do not have to disclose personal information, you just need to register in it. True, the anonymous use of an electronic wallet often imposes some restrictions on the size of payments and withdrawal amounts. You can read about this in the relevant rules of the payment system.
• Electronic money services operate around the clock in real time. All payments are made instantly.
• the already wide range of payment system partners is constantly growing, giving its users the opportunity to make utility payments, payments mobile communications, Internet providers, and other services with a minimum commission, or even without it at all. Often payment system organizes various promotions and provides discounts and gifts to its users when paying for certain goods and services on its partner sites.
• Electronic money does not know distances, geographic or state borders.

Disadvantages of electronic money

Below is a list of the disadvantages of virtual currency:

• since your e-wallet does not belong to any of the banks, then the system does not accrue any interest on the amounts in the account.
• However, electronic money, despite its widespread use, is still not a generally accepted currency, and therefore, not everything can still be paid with it.
• The main disadvantage of such mutual settlements, of course, remains their security. There is a possibility of your wallet being hacked. Fraudsters and hackers are finding new ways to get your money.
• If there are problems with the Internet or your computer, you may not have access to your e-wallet.

The electronic payment system does not provide your money with anything, and therefore the only guarantee that your money will not be lost and will continue to work for you is the reputation of the company whose services you use. Only you can decide whether to use an electronic wallet or not. But in conclusion, I would like to say that every year virtual money becomes popular among the population.

Virtual money is electronic money that can be exchanged both according to the rules of the Central Bank and according to the rules of various private electronic payment systems. Electronic money includes private virtual currency, which operates in some areas, but it does not have any signs of real currency. One of the main characteristics of legal currency is its legal tender status. No virtual currency has such a status today. Virtual money can, in most cases, act as a substitute for real money or be converted into real currency.

Earning virtual money

You can earn virtual money on the Internet in the following common ways:

• Visiting websites and performing simple tasks, such as watching a video, leaving a comment or review, reading a letter, refreshing a page, watching an advertisement;
• Copywriting on exchanges - custom writing of various forms of content (articles, descriptions for online cinemas and online stores, texts of letters for mailings);
• Participation in affiliate programs and attracting referrals via links for the development of any project;
• Freelancing - remote services in any professional field - design, programming, layout, tutoring and translations;
• Earning money from games, online casinos, poker.

Using virtual money

Money earned online can be used in several ways. First of all, virtual currency is suitable for making payment transactions directly on the Internet. Using virtual money is a modern, practical and fast way to pay for the purchase of various services and goods. In addition, virtual money earned on the Internet can be made real - withdraw it to a bank card and cash it out, or transfer it through an exchanger and receive cash by money transfer. Another way to use virtual money is to further increase it by participating in electronic auctions and poker tournaments. Virtual money is also accepted in the form of donations.

How to withdraw virtual money

In order to withdraw virtual money from an online wallet, you can use several methods:

• Receive money by post or money transfer through a special service;
• Use special services that allow you to transfer virtual money to a bank account;
• Use “exchangers” - sites where you can exchange virtual money for the required currency.

Depending on the chosen method, withdrawal of virtual money may take from several hours to several days. Also, when withdrawing virtual money in any way, a commission is charged from the withdrawn amount, the amount of which may vary and is usually no more than 6%.

Payment with virtual money

Many Russian and foreign online stores and various online service providers accept payment with virtual money. You can also top up your account with virtual currency mobile phone, pay for the purchase of a ticket or insurance policy, issue an electronic subscription to publications or courses. As a rule, on the website of the company whose services or goods are offered for purchase, there is always information about whether they accept virtual funds for payment. The advantages of using something to pay include the high speed of payment - in most modern systems, the transfer occurs almost instantly, maximum within a few hours.

Transfer of virtual money

In order to transfer virtual money from one account to another, you must use a special payment system. The safest and popular system to carry out transactions with virtual money is the international payment system WebMoney. Also, so-called Internet exchangers can be used to withdraw and transfer virtual funds. To complete the transfer operation, you need to know the account details to which the virtual money will be transferred. You can also transfer virtual money using money transfer systems - “Zolotaya Korona”, “Contact”.

IN lately in the world the so-called .

Virtual currency is a type of virtual money that is created directly on a computer network and is a digital expression of value that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange; and/or monetary unit of account; and/or a store of value, but does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction.

Virtual currency may be convertible or non-convertible. Convertible (or open) virtual currency has an equivalent value in real currency and can be exchanged to and from real currency. Examples of convertible virtual currency are: Bitcoin; e-Gold (no longer existing), Liberty Reserve (no longer existing), Second Life Linden Dollars and WebMoney. Non-convertible (or proprietary) virtual currency is intended for use in specific virtual realms or worlds, such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) or Amazon, and which, under the rules governing its use, cannot be exchanged for real currency. Examples of non-convertible virtual currency are: Project Entropia Dollars23; QCoins; and World of Warcraft Gold.

The electronic financial units themselves are reliably protected from counterfeiting and hacking through encryption using cryptographic methods. When a transaction is made, the source code of a virtual coin can be hashed sequentially (transformed using a specific algorithm), so the transaction itself can be easily tracked, but cannot be hacked.

Cryptocurrency arises during an activity such as mining. Cryptocurrency mining cannot be blocked, transactions cannot be reversed, and all data is stored in a common database. Mining any cryptocurrency becomes more difficult over time, and the more blocks are created, the more complex the algorithms need to be solved in order to obtain new coins.

The most famous decentralized virtual currency is Bitcoin (bitcoin, English bit - unit of information "bit", English coin - coin), invented in 2009.

From the users' point of view, Bitcoin is just mobile application or computer program, which gives them access to a Bitcoin wallet and allows them to receive and spend Bitcoins.

At the heart of the Bitcoin network is a public ledger called the blockchain, or “block chain.” This ledger contains a history of all transactions ever made, allowing users' computers to verify the legitimacy of each transaction. The authenticity of every transaction is protected electronic signatures, corresponding to the addresses used in the transaction, allowing users to have full control over the transfer of Bitcoins from their Bitcoin addresses. In addition, anyone can process transactions using the computing power of specialized equipment and earn bitcoins for these services.

Now mining bitcoins requires very large computing power.

Bitcoin payments are made through a wallet program installed on a computer or smartphone by entering the recipient's address and payment amount.

In August 2017, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. This decision was adopted to optimize the system for mass users. In November 2017, the rate of classic Bitcoin fell by almost 30%, and Bitcoin Cash, on the contrary, rose in price by 35%. The developers of Bitcoin Classic do not rule out that by May 2018 it will cease to exist, and Bitcoin Cash will become the main currency.

Today, in addition to Bitcoins, you can make payments online with several other cryptocurrencies, although their prevalence and liquidity vary.

Ethereum(ether) is a cryptocurrency developed in 2015 by a Canadian programmer with Russian roots, Vitaly Buterin.

Litecoin- currency, was launched in 2011. Litecoin transactions are confirmed on average four times faster than the Bitcoin network, and the block database takes up much less space.

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency based on the Litecoin algorithm. The Dogecoin system was launched in December 2013. The advantages of settlement with "dogs" are the imperceptible size of the commission and the high speed of transaction confirmation.

Peercoin, a peer-to-peer system launched in 2012. It differs from other cryptocurrencies in the features of its emission, namely the ability to create this money in two ways at once (by calculating the share or by performing work).

In some countries, Bitcoin is legalized at the state level. Japan, Switzerland, and Singapore are considered market leaders in terms of creating a favorable environment for cryptocurrencies.

Russia does not yet have a specific position on the definition of cryptocurrencies and its regulation. In October 2017, the President of the Russian Federation instructed the government, together with the Central Bank, to prepare, by July 2018, amendments to the legislation regulating the procedure for placing cryptocurrencies by analogy with the regulation of the initial placement of securities.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance, since according to the Constitution the means of payment in Russia is the ruble. And therefore, it is illegal to use cryptocurrency for these purposes.

To date, none banking system does not work systematically with cryptocurrency.

Trading in convertible virtual currencies typically occurs on virtual currency exchanges. To pay for exchange services, a combination of a fixed fee and a commission percentage is used. Additional fee may be charged for deposits and/or withdrawals of virtual currency.

The vast majority of trading platforms require some form of identification in order to deposit and withdraw funds. But some exchanges allow you to remain anonymous.

Some of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges:

Bitfinex(Virgin Islands) - one of the largest exchanges in terms of Bitcoin trading volume. The operator of the exchange is the Hong Kong company iFinex Inc. Offers traders the opportunity to work with most major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, EOS, OmiseGO, Iota, Ethereum Classic, Zcash, Ripple, Dash, Santiment, Monero and others. Access to the trading platform is provided through a web interface or mobile application.

Bittrex(USA) is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. One of the main advantages of Bittrex is its large selection of cryptocurrencies. The number of trading pairs traded there exceeds 250, and there are almost 200 cryptocurrencies. Bittrex provides access to its trading platform using a web interface. Deposits/withdrawals are carried out only in cryptocurrencies.

Bithumb(South Korea) - the most popular exchange South Korea and one of the largest exchanges by trading volume in the world. Offers traders the opportunity to work with six currencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple and Dash. Bithumb has one of the lowest fees on the market and one of the most high levels liquidity. To trade on the exchange, verification is required with the provision of copies of documents.

BitMEX(Hong Kong) is a trading platform founded by HDR Global Trading Limited in November 2014 in Hong Kong with a focus on international markets. To verify your account, just confirm your email. Deposits/withdrawals on BitMEX are carried out exclusively in Bitcoin.

HitBTC(UK) - a cryptocurrency exchange specializing in the exchange of real currencies (dollar, euro, British pound sterling) for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for cryptocurrency. Account verification is required for registration.

Poloniex(USA) is one of the world's leading cryptocurrency exchanges. Provides access to a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc. Access to the platform is carried out using a web interface.

GDAX(USA) is a trading platform opened by the Bitcoin exchange service Coinbase in May 2016. Does not accept users from Russia and CIS countries.

Bitstamp(UK) is an exchange owned by Bitstamp Ltd. Its offices are located in Luxembourg, London and New York (USA). Bitstamp is the first fully licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Europe. It is regulated by the Luxembourg Financial Supervisory Authority (CSSF). Bitstamp allows you to trade three major cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ripple) against dollars and euros. You can deposit money on it using traditional payment methods, such as bank cards. Access to the Bitstamp platform is provided through a web interface.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources