VTB CEO Andrei Kostin stated during the Eastern Economic Forum that he views the prospects of digital currencies positively, but emphasized that "private" crypto assets inevitably face resistance from global financial regulators. In his words, this resistance is not a whim, but a fundamental protection of monetary policy levers.
Speaking at the session "Betting on Youth: What Can Business and Government Learn from Zoomers?", Kostin outlined the key problem: non-state cryptocurrencies divert a significant volume of liquidity from the control of central banks. The traditional financial system relies on tools such as monetary aggregates M1 and M2, as well as on managing key interest rates. A parallel unregulated market, where the issuance and circulation of assets occur outside these mechanisms, poses a direct threat to the effectiveness of monetary policy.
Why banks did not disappear but adapted
Interestingly, Kostin also recalled the loud predictions of twenty years ago, when promises of the imminent death of traditional banks and a full transition of settlements to blockchain came from Silicon Valley. Reality turned out to be different: the banking system not only survived but also demonstrates resilience — cash circulation has even grown slightly recently. This is a clear example that the technological revolution in finance is not following the path of destroying institutions, but rather the path of their transformation.
Instead of fighting cryptocurrencies, the largest banks prefer to integrate them into their own infrastructure. Russian financial giants have already prepared the technical foundation for cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency. According to estimates by Dmitry Vitman, operational director of the corporate and investment business unit at Alfa-Bank, competition here will be extremely fierce — the first clients will be miners and importers who are already actively working with digital assets.
Global trend: banks build their own contours around crypto
The same logic can be traced in the story of the ruble stablecoin A7A5. In its report on stablecoins, the Bank of Russia did not mention once the largest ruble token with a transfer turnover exceeding $100 billion, backed by the state-owned Promsvyazbank. RACIB experts link this silence to the protection of the digital ruble and the reluctance to hand over control over ruble issuance to a private-state partnership.
Abroad, the process is even more active. A coalition of 39 US banking associations announced the creation of the BankChain Alliance — an industry blockchain network for stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The project, planned for launch in 2027, unites 3,283 banks with assets of $21.8 trillion.
The first data on the real utility of crypto instruments is also telling. The Central Bank of Italy tested transfers of 200 USDC across ten routes and found that total costs range from 0.3% to 9%. Stablecoins have not yet demonstrated a sustainable advantage over traditional channels.
My conclusion as an analyst: central banks are not afraid of the technology; they are afraid of losing control. That is why we are witnessing not a ban, but the "taming" of cryptocurrencies — through CBDCs, industry alliances, and integration into banking infrastructure. Classic crypto assets will remain a niche tool, while the main battle will unfold over the right to issue digital money.