Central Bank transferred the launch of a digital ruble: causes, prospects
The massive implementation of the digital ruble planned for July 1 is postponed for an indefinite period. Market participants say that the Bank of Russia had to go to this step due to the unpreparedness of infrastructure for the widespread use of digital currency. And experts note that the concept itself even at the development stage contained flaws, and in general, the idea of digital currencies of central banks in the world has recently been more and more skeptical.
On Thursday, February 27, speaking at a meeting of the Association of Banks of Russia, the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina said that the start of the massive implementation of the digital ruble scheduled for July 1 was transferred to a later date. “We continue to receive questions from you about the volumes of the necessary improvements and requests for the shift of the terms of wide implementation of the digital ruble,” she said to the bankers.
A digital ruble is the third form of the Russian currency after a cash and non -cash ruble. Citizens and organizations can have only one account in digital rubles, which opens in the Bank of Russia. Commercial banks act as intermediaries – through their application it will be possible to send an order to transfer digital rubles, while its account can be used from the application of any bank. Interest on the balance in the account is not charged, and loans are not issued in digital rubles. Such rubles can be “stained”-set a certain purpose on which you can spend them, as well as conclude smart contracts when the money is transferred after the recipient of certain conditions.
The delays in the introduction of the third form of the Russian currency are actually associated with the unpreparedness of the infrastructure. “The terms are transferred, because the performers – banks and TSP – were not ready for mass implementation,” Anatoly Aksakov, head of the financial committee of the financial committee, explained Kommersant. At the same time, according to him, “the legislation for the introduction of a digital ruble is completely ready”, and if “you need to adjust something additionally, this can be done quite quickly”. Mr. Aksakov does not exclude that « the first money will go already on July 1 through those who will be ready. »
A number of participants in the pilot project confirmed Kommersant that they are ready to introduce a digital ruble.
According to Vitaly Kopisov, the director of the Sinara Bank, « from the technical side the bank is ready to mass start a mass launch in the deadlines specified by the regulator – all basic services are piloted. » The same was reported in VTB. The deputy chairman of the Board of Dom.rf Bank Nikolai Kozak noted that the transfer of deadlines “will allow participating organizations to work out in more detail all the measures and requirements of the regulator and rebuild the costs of future periods”.
The idea of creating a digital ruble was published in the advisory report of the Bank of Russia in October 2020 (see “Kommersant” dated October 14, 2020). In 2021, the concept of a digital ruble was presented and 12 banks were selected to test a digital currency prototype. « Pilot » with real digital rubles began in August 2023 (see “Kommersant” dated August 10, 2023), and 13 banks, 600 people and 22 companies took part in it. In September 2024, the second stage of “pilot” was announced, with the addition of a number of operations and the expansion of the number of participants – up to 9 thousand citizens and 1.2 thousand companies. With the expansion of the number of participants, not everything did not work out smoothly – according to Elvira Nabiullina, today 1,700 citizens and about 30 companies participate in the pilot.
At the same time, potential users of digital currency are cautious. According to the President of the Association of Low-Formation, Vladlen Maksimov, trade refers to the introduction of a digital ruble as a whole skeptical, « since it is now not clear what costs the business will carry because of this and what equipment is needed to receive it at retail outlets. » The chairman of the Presidium Acort (unites the largest retailers) Stanislav Bogdanov noted that the successful and smooth implementation of the digital ruble requires a deferment “for the development of software, making changes to existing information systems, conducting test tests and staff training”.
Sources of Kommersant in the financial market also note the lack of enthusiasm for the banking community.
One of Kommersant’s interlocutors notes that “the financial effect for banks from colossal costs for the introduction of a digital ruble is not fully understood”, in addition, there are questions for the technical implementation of the project, for example, “there are only a general concept in terms of cybersecurity, without specificity”. Another interlocutor Kommersant noted that very serious improvements are required in mobile applications of banks and integration into payment terminals. According to him, the transfer of the implementation time could be caused by the position of Sberbank, who actively achieved this, having the largest client base and the largest acquiring network. In Sberbank, they refused comments.
1.7 thousand citizens
take part in the second stage of the « pilot » of the digital ruble
Experts pay attention to the fact that shortcomings were allowed at the stage of forming a concept. According to the MVA-Professor of the Digital Finance of the RANEPA Digital Finance, Alexei Voilukov, initially the concept of a digital ruble was developed by programmers, not economists and business representatives. “Therefore, they were able to solve the technical problem of transferring digital rubles, but they simply did not think about the accompanying tasks, for example, so far it is not clear how the struggle to launder and financing of terrorism should be organized,” he says.
The chairman of the Association of Participants in the Electronic Money Market, Viktor Prostostov, indicates that now in the world “more carefully relate to the idea of introducing the digital currency of central banks, and the same China that everyone put as an example has significantly slowed its“ pilot ”.” The head of the board of the Financial Innovation Association Roman Prokhorov noticed that Donald Trump, among his first documents as the US President, signed an order to stop the digital dollar. “Under these conditions, the issue of a digital ruble project from the plane of the time transfer has every chance to switch to the plane of its reformatting, for example, on the principles of tokenization of cashless money, credit organizations, which ensures the same existed digitalization of finances, but with significantly less costs,” he said.
