The Russian Central Bank has stressed the significance of pressing through with the effort to create a digital ruble. Even though not all of the invited banks are ready to participate yet, the monetary authority, according to a statement by a top spokesman, has no plans to postpone the trials. Earlier in March, The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, approved a resolution designating the Digital Ruble as a reserve currency. The Digital Ruble is a different version of the Russian national currency issued digitally by the Bank of Russia. Bank of Russia to Test With Digital Ruble Payments This Year In January, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) began testing the digital ruble, and in mid-February, it announced the first successful transfers between individual wallets. The studies, which are planned to go through 2022, involve at least a dozen Russian financial organizations. Skorobogatova confirmed that not all of the participating banks are technically ready to participate in the tests. She stressed, however, that this would have no bearing on the effort to produce the Russian central bank’s digital money (CBDC). Skorobogatova announced earlier this year that the second round of the trials would begin in the fall. During that time, the CBR intends to start operations, including digital ruble payments for products and services and government transfers. The bank will also issue smart contracts in conjunction with the Fed...
