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The first consumer trials for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be launched by the Bank of Russia on April 1, 2023, as part of today’s preparations.
According to first deputy governor Olga Skorobogatova, the Russian Central Bank is getting ready to launch the first real-world digital ruble transactions soon. This transaction will cover 13 local banks and multiple retailers.
According to a report by regional news agency TASS, the official said that a future CBDC pilot would include real genuine and consumer activity in Russia, but it would be limited to a limited number of transactions and clients.
At the Ural Forum on Cybersecurity in Finance, Skorobogatova said that “We hope to start the digital ruble project on April 1 with transactions including individual transfers as well as payments within trade and service organizations.” He went on to say that financial institutions taking part in the pilot program have technically shown that they are ready to start testing the digital ruble.
The deputy governor clarified that ordinary consumers will not be allowed to participate in the first phase of the trial, as the bank will start the trial with pre-selected clients. According to what Skrobogatova said, when the first stage of the pilot program is completed, the Bank of Russia intends to evaluate how to further develop the digital ruble.
The latest declaration made by Skorobogatova is in line with the digital ruble implementation strategy that the central bank publicly presented in June 2022. Due to Western economic sanctions against Russia, the consumer CBDC trial was pushed to a date that was originally planned for 2024 but was pushed forward to an earlier date as Russia’s central bank is looking for an alternative to the SWIFT payment system.
This information comes at a time when several Russian authorities have stated that the Bank of Russia is looking into possible gold-backed coins that will target international trade. Vladimir Chistyukhin, the first deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, believes that the creation of “gold tokens” will help Russia in the development of new investment products attractive to investors and payment mechanisms necessary for international settlements.
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