The Bank of Russia is preparing to roll out the first consumer pilot for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) on April 1, 2023.
Launch digital Ruble project on April 1
Russia’s central bank will soon launch the first digital ruble transactions in the real world, involving 13 local banks and several merchants, according to First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova.
The upcoming pilot of the CBDC will involve real transactions and consumers in Russia, but this number of transactions and customers will be limited, according to local news agency TASS. Skorobogatova said the following:
We plan to launch the digital ruble project on April 1, with transactions involving both individual transfers and payments in trade and service companies. The participating banks are ready for the project.
Original pilot planned for 2024
Skorobogatova stated that during the first phase of the pilot, only selected customers of the banks can participate and general customers cannot participate. After this initial trial period, the Bank of Russia plans to decide how to further expand the digital ruble.
Skorobogatova’s recent announcement follows the roadmap for the rollout of the digital ruble that the central bank officially launched in June 2022. The consumer CBDC pilot, originally scheduled for 2024, was brought forward due to Russia’s central bank seeking an alternative to the SWIFT payment system amid Western economic sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, some Russian officials claim that the Bank of Russia is considering creating a potential gold-backed token aimed at cross-border transactions. According to Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin, such a “golden token” will help Russia create an attractive new investment product and build a demanded payment method for international settlements.
