Azerbaijan: Central Bank Doesn’t Plan to Issue Its Own Cryptocurrency

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) does not plan to issue a state-backed cryptocurrency because of the “great risks,” English-language Azerbaijani news outlet AzerNews reported Nov. 15.

Alim Guliyev, the first Chairman at CBA, underlined that since digital currencies “come with great risks,” the CBA is not intending to launch a central bank issued digital currency (CBDC) any time soon. Guliyev, who sees such financial instruments as “risky and dangerous,” added that he believes money laundering is the prime goal of cryptocurrencies.

An Israeli independent study group set up by the governor of the Bank of Israel came to a similar conclusion while exploring possibilities of issuing CBDCs, overall not recommending that the country’s central bank to issue its own token, Cointelegraph reported Nov. 7.

Back this summer, the Bank of Finland released a study, entitled “The Great Illusion of Cryptocurrencies,” calling cryptocurrencies not real currencies but instead “accounting systems for non-existent assets,” Cointelegraph wrote Jul. 2.

Earlier this fall in Azerbaijan, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Internet Forum revealed the government’s plans to implement blockchain technology and smart contracts in the country’s legal system and “in the field of public utilities (water, gas and electricity supply),” Cointelegraph wrote Nov. 2.