Bank of Russia Reports Success of Digital Ruble, Pushes for Crypto Ban

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) and other financial institutions have begun testing the digitalized national fiat currency, called ‘Digital Ruble.’ The testing for central bank digital currency (CBDC) began in December 2021, when a prototype of the digital ruble platform was created. Digital Ruble Transaction Executed by CBR and Other Banks The Bank of Russia announced that the pilot stage of the digital ruble, the intended central bank digital currency, has begun. According to the regulator, it has the potential to become an alternative to cryptocurrencies for Russians, which should be completely prohibited. According to an announcement published on the Russian Central Bank’s website on Tuesday, 3 banks have already been facilitating trial transactions for their clients using existing mobile banking applications, as well as gateways to exchange rubles from their account to a digital version. Russian Central Bank additionally states that 12 banks are upgrading their tech stacks to participate in the pilot and 2 banks have completed a full cycle of digital ruble transfers between clients using mobile banking apps. According to the CBR, users were able to establish digital ruble wallets using the applications, swap ordinary electronic money from their bank accounts for digital rubles, and then move the currencies amongst themselves. In addition, there are also plans of adopting the offline payment method and com...