The Russian State Duma has passed a law in its third reading to introduce the digital ruble into circulation starting September 1, 2026, as reported by Interfax.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the law on the implementation of the digital ruble. The relevant document has appeared on the legal acts portal.
From the specified date, banks will be required to offer clients the ability to conduct transactions with the national digital currency. By September 1, 2028, this functionality must be available in all credit institutions, and all sellers will be obliged to accept payments in the asset.
The only exceptions will be retail outlets with annual revenue of less than 5 million rubles and those operating in areas without internet and communication access.
A universal payment QR code will be introduced for CBDC transfers, excluding cross-border transactions. The operator will be JSC “NSPK“, but charging fees for its services is prohibited.
The law specifies technical requirements for the operator’s work regarding the publication of connection rules and the procedure for code formation.
The basic law on the Russian digital ruble came into force on August 1, 2023. It was anticipated that the largest Russian banks would provide clients access to transactions with it by July 1, 2025.
In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law extending AML regulations to participants of the national digital currency platform. Initially, the document envisaged centralized control over transactions with the asset by the Central Bank. In the final version, this control was distributed between the regulator and commercial banks.