The Central Bank of Russia’s digital ruble is expected to be launched by 2025, according to Russian experts, with the nation’s major banks expressing a keen interest in the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The Central Bank is fast-tracking its CBDC rollout, but reports indicate that the digital currency will not be available to the public until 2025 at the earliest. However, there is speculation that Moscow may seek to bring this timeline forward.
Several of Russia’s largest commercial banks have publicly stated their readiness to participate in the Central Bank’s forthcoming “real-world” CBDC trials.
Due to sanctions led by the US and EU, Russia has been effectively barred from trading in the US dollar. This has spurred the Central Bank’s efforts to introduce a CBDC, with the aim of completely eliminating dollar trade in Russia.
While the Central Bank has stated that “cross-border CBDCs” are still a distant prospect, discussions have been held regarding a BRICS stablecoin and a gold-backed token for trade with Iran.
Unlike Beijing, Moscow has consistently promoted the potential use of its CBDC for cross-border payments with “friendly countries.”
Russian banks appear eager to participate. DOM.RF Bank has stated it is “technically ready” to launch the project as soon as it gets the go-ahead. Rosbank has expressed its readiness to participate in a pilot project with real clients, while Alfa-Bank is enthusiastic about the “prospects” of the digital ruble “project.”
VTB, another major Russian bank, has reportedly selected a “limited circle of clients and employees” to use the prototype coin, with a “focus group” already established. Similar sentiments have been expressed by other banks such as Promsvyazbank, Sinara, Delobank, TKB, and MTS Bank.
TKB hinted that the “real-world” pilot launch could occur within days, with its own tests “scheduled for the end of July.”
Last week, Russian Prosecutor-General Igor Krasnov visited China, where he suggested that it would be in the “common interest” of both countries to align their CBDC-related legal systems to prevent criminal misuse of their CBDCs. Krasnov praised China’s early introduction of a CBDC as a measure to protect the economy from the criminal influence of cryptocurrencies.
