Digital ruble to be available to non-residents

The Bank of Russia will ensure the possibility to exchange the digital ruble for foreign currency and will allow non-residents to open wallets. This is говорится in the document published on the regulator’s site.

The regulator said it intends to gradually expand the circle of participants and the types of available operations.

In 2022, at the testing stage, credit institutions will be connected to the system and C2C operations will be implemented.

The second phase envisions the addition of the Federal Treasury, the implementation of smart contracts, and operations involving business and the state.

Going forward, non-bank payment service providers, exchanges, brokers, marketplaces and insurance companies will gain access to the platform. Developers will enable the exchange of the digital ruble for foreign currency and the opening of wallets for non-resident clients. An offline mode will be implemented in the system.

According to the Bank of Russia, the ability to use the digital ruble offline will increase the accessibility of financial services for the population. Under uniform tariffs, the costs of carrying out transactions with it will be reduced. The platform will also enable targeted delivery of payments to citizens and to businesses.

Earlier, the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance confirmed plans to launch the digital ruble as a third form of money by 2030.

Testing of the new financial instrument will take place based on 12 banks in the first quarter of 2022.

In the same period, the State Duma will begin developing amendments to the legislation necessary for the introduction of the digital ruble into the country’s economy.

Earlier, Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said that the digital ruble will be a full-fledged replacement for cryptocurrencies for Russians.

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