Russia to Introduce Digital Ruble?

The high level of development of financial technologies in Russia and the increasing share of cashless payments are making the question of launching a digital ruble more and more relevant.

This was announced by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR).

The regulatory body says in its report that it is currently looking into all the possibilities and outlooks of such a project, which will enable users to freely transfer digital rubles to their electronic wallets and use them on mobile devices, both online and offline, Biznisinfo writes.

According to the deputy chairman of the CBR, Alexei Zabotkin, the share of cashless payments in retail and the public sector in the country has nearly doubled, from 39% to 69%.

The CBR said that the digital ruble would stimulate innovations and competition in the financial sector, as it would make it easier and quicker to transfer money from one trade mediator to another. It would also help monitor the spending within the projects financed by the government.

The report also said that, although it will not be possible to use the digital ruble anonymously, unlike cash or a decentralized cryptocurrency, “the data on the transactions made with the digital ruble will contain more restricted information than the existing payment systems”.

The amount of the digital rubles available at once will also be limited, similar to cash drawdown limitations, the CBR says in its report.

Central Bank of Russia

Alexei Zabotkin

digital ruble