The chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, revealed that the digital ruble will undergo testing for budget payments in specific categories later this year. This move comes as part of the plan to fully implement the digital ruble by no later than 2025. Currently, the state digital currency is being tested in 11 cities, involving 13 banks and a limited number of clients, including around 600 individuals and 30 trade and service enterprises. The second stage of testing, scheduled for 2024, will witness the expansion of participants and tested operations.
The introduction of the digital ruble aims to enhance payment processing speed and bolster the security of financial transactions. Moreover, the state digital currency platform will support smart contracts that facilitate the coordination of fulfilling obligations among parties involved. In 2024, the digital ruble will be tested in certain categories of budget expenditures, particularly in areas where targeted use of budget funds is crucial. This includes social payments, subsidies, allocations for procurement or provision of specific services, and infrastructure projects such as road construction.
It is worth mentioning that Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov previously assured that by 2024, all Russians will have access to payments in digital rubles.
Eleanor Ashworth is editor-in-chief at BTCNews. A Cambridge-trained journalist with 18 years across the Financial Times, Reuters and the Telegraph, she joined the crypto beat in 2017 after covering the Bank of England and HM Treasury. She holds the SABEW Best in Business award (2022) and was shortlisted for the British Journalism Awards (2023). At BTCNews she sets the editorial line for Bitcoin and macro markets coverage, with a focus on institutional adoption, regulation and central-bank policy. Based in London.
