The five member countries of the BRICS alliance are considering creating a single payment system and associated cryptocurrency to use between them, according to Russian outlet RBC. The topic of a single inter-group settlement mechanism received broad support from all nations, potentially marking another potential example of a state-backed cryptocurrency.
BRICS in the Blockchain
RBC states that the concept of a single payment system and an associated cryptocurrency was brought up at the group’s recent meeting in Brazil, having been proposed by Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) head Kirill Dmitriev, and was supported by the other four countries that make up the alliance – Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. BRICS, originally founded in 2001 as BRIC, is the acronym used for the association of five major emerging national economies, and their backing of a BRICS cryptocurrency would be a huge feather in the cap for the nascent technology. Of course, the application of such technology will be years away, but that didn’t stop Dmitrev extolling its virtues:
An efficiently operating BRICS payment system is able to stimulate settlements in national currencies and ensure the stability of settlements and investments between our countries, which form more than 20% of the global influx of foreign direct investment.
Great News for Blockchain…Not so Much for Crypto
During the meeting, Dmitrev is said to have emphasized that the development of new payment methods and their sustainable integration are “are an important factor in the economic partnership between the BRICS countries in the face of increasing non-market risks of the global payment infrastructure.”
The development comes at a time when large scale, national level cryptocurrencies are a major talking point, from the effort by countries such as Germany to suppress Facebook’s Libra token to China’s endorsement of blockchain technology and ‘will they-won’t they’ national cryptocurrency. Before any fans of certain remittance platforms get excited, BRICS is much more likely to have their own blockchain built for them rather than use an out-of-the-box system, once again turning a blind eye to the plight of beleaguered token holders who just want their damned bags pumped.
