No cryptocurrency in Armenia in near future
YEREVAN, September 16. / ARKA /. According to Armenian economist Vilen Khachatryan, Armenia is not going to develop virtual or cryptocurrency in the near future.
His comments follow news reports that Russian mobile payments company Qiwi is developing a new 'bitruble' cryptocurrency and hopes to put it into circulation in 2016.
According to the Qiwi CEO and co-owner Sergey Solonin, the development and issue of the new Russian cryptocurrency will cost the company several million dollars. To launch the bitruble, Qiwi will use blockchain technology, the same underpinning bitcoin, a virtual web-based currency introduced in 2009.
In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the usage of cryptocurrencies in Russia would possibly be legalized at a future point, pointing out that "there are still some real, serious, fundamental problems" with the system.
The global circulation of digital money is estimated now at $3.8 billion.
Vilen Khachatryan says people in Armenia like ‘real’ money and are used to feel their real presence, and it is a reason why online transactions in the country are not popular yet. He says cash flow in Armenia is not large enough to affect the entire economy, and therefore the emergence of virtual money is little probable.
He, however, added that virtual money, despite certain advantages, such as easy conversion, is subject to certain risks, like hacker attacks and fraud.
Bitcoin is a payment system invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, who published the invention in 2008 and released it as open-source software in 2009. The system is peer-to-peer; users can transact directly without needing an intermediary.
Transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a public distributed ledger called the block chain. The ledger uses its own unit of account, also called bitcoin. The system works without a central repository or single administrator, which has led the US Treasury to categorize it as a decentralized virtual currency.
Bitcoin is often called the first cryptocurrency, although prior systems existed. Bitcoin is more correctly described as the first decentralized digital currency. It is the largest of its kind in terms of total market value.-0-
His comments follow news reports that Russian mobile payments company Qiwi is developing a new 'bitruble' cryptocurrency and hopes to put it into circulation in 2016.
According to the Qiwi CEO and co-owner Sergey Solonin, the development and issue of the new Russian cryptocurrency will cost the company several million dollars. To launch the bitruble, Qiwi will use blockchain technology, the same underpinning bitcoin, a virtual web-based currency introduced in 2009.
In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the usage of cryptocurrencies in Russia would possibly be legalized at a future point, pointing out that "there are still some real, serious, fundamental problems" with the system.
The global circulation of digital money is estimated now at $3.8 billion.
Vilen Khachatryan says people in Armenia like ‘real’ money and are used to feel their real presence, and it is a reason why online transactions in the country are not popular yet. He says cash flow in Armenia is not large enough to affect the entire economy, and therefore the emergence of virtual money is little probable.
He, however, added that virtual money, despite certain advantages, such as easy conversion, is subject to certain risks, like hacker attacks and fraud.
Bitcoin is a payment system invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, who published the invention in 2008 and released it as open-source software in 2009. The system is peer-to-peer; users can transact directly without needing an intermediary.
Transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a public distributed ledger called the block chain. The ledger uses its own unit of account, also called bitcoin. The system works without a central repository or single administrator, which has led the US Treasury to categorize it as a decentralized virtual currency.
Bitcoin is often called the first cryptocurrency, although prior systems existed. Bitcoin is more correctly described as the first decentralized digital currency. It is the largest of its kind in terms of total market value.-0-