In partnership with 13 local banks, the central bank of Russia is getting ready to launch the first consumer trial for the digital ruble.
On April 1, 2023, the Bank of Russia will launch the first consumer trial for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
According to first deputy governor Olga Skorobogatova, the Russian central bank will shortly introduce the first actual digital ruble transactions involving 13 local banks and many business owners.
According to the source, the next CBDC pilot in Russia would involve genuine activities and actual consumers but will be restricted to a specific volume of transactions and clients.
At the Ural Forum Cybersecurity in Finance, Skorobogatova said, “We want to begin the digital ruble project on April 1, with transactions including individual transfers as well as payments in trade and service organizations.” She continued by saying that the banks taking part in the pilot have technically verified that they are prepared to begin testing the digital ruble.
General clients won’t be permitted to join in the trial in the first phase, according to the deputy governor, since the banks would only start the experiment with selected customers. The Bank of Russia intends to figure out how to grow the digital ruble beyond the initial test phase, according to Skorobogatova.
The most recent statement made by Skorobogatova adheres to the schedule for the introduction of the digital ruble that the central bank formally unveiled in June 2022. The consumer CBDC pilot, which was initially slated for 2024, was brought up earlier because of Western economic sanctions on Russia, which drove the Russian central bank to search for an alternative to the SWIFT payments system.
The announcement comes amid claims from certain Russian officials that the Bank of Russia is developing a potential gold-backed token aimed at international trade. Vladimir Chistyukhin, the first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, thinks that a “golden token” will assist Russia in developing a new, alluring investment product and a required payment mechanism for international settlement.
