Delay in Launch of Digital Ruble in Russia

The planned July 1 mass launch of the digital ruble has been postponed at the request of participants in the pilot project. This was reported by Interfax, citing a statement from the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina.

According to her, 15 banks and about 30 companies risk missing the deadline for launching operations. Among the reasons are the “not fully defined” legal framework of the project and the CBDC platform, which is still under development.

“[We will move] to the mass implementation of the digital ruble a little later, […] after we work out all the details in the pilot and hold consultations with banks on the economic model that is most attractive for their clients, for business, for people,” said Nabiullina.

A new date for the mass launch has not yet been set, although earlier a Sberbank representative in a media comment suggested that a postponement to 2026 is a realistic option.

The Central Bank intends to provide credit institutions with some components for connection free of charge to reduce costs for smaller banks. Specifically, this concerns cryptographic information protection tools used in subordinate certification centers.

The law on Russia’s national digital currency came into effect on August 1, 2023. In the same month, the central bank launched a testing program with a limited number of banks. In January, the initiative was expanded.

At the end of 2024, the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Finance, and the Treasury conducted testing of certain operations with the digital ruble as part of the budget process.

Experts have concluded that the costs of implementing CBDC may prove prohibitive for small financial institutions.