Russian Central Bank to Expand Digital Ruble Pilot in September
The Russian Central Bank will finally expand its digital ruble pilot in September, widening its CBDC’s reach “by tens of times.”
Pravda reported that the new “phase” of the pilot will see the digital ruble offered to “real clients with real money from September 1.”
The bank’s First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova told the Russian Financial Congress:
“We are expanding our pilot to encompass real transactions from September 1. […] Currently, 12 banks are taking part in the pilot. And 19 more are in the process of joining the pilot. We want to significantly increase the number of individuals and companies that can participate in the pilot.”
The bank launched its CBDC pilot just over a year ago, with some 600 selected individuals in 11 Russian cities taking part.
The pilot has since seen only minor expansion, with the Moscow Metro integrated, along with a small group of large banks.
Several months ago, the Central Bank said that it would expand its pilot network to include a “second group of banks.”
However, the Central Bank refused to put a timeframe on this expansion. Skorobogatova and other senior bank officials have previously announced their intention to roll the CBDC out nationwide by the end of 2025.
Skorobogatova added that the Central Bank has received a “huge number of applications and requests” to use the digital ruble “from citizens and businesses” around the country.
She added that there was now a “real demand” that “the project be expanded to all banks and a larger number of participants.”
Skorobogatova concluded that she “believes” that the digital ruble project “will develop very actively in the second half of 2024 and next year.”
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