Russians don’t take kindly to the CBDC concept. According to the online survey the banking news website BankInform.ru https://bankinform.ru/news/129875 ran among its subscribers, most respondents are not interested in using the digital ruble.
32% of the participants considered that the digital currency issued by the central bank is “some kind of a fraud,” and it’s better to approach it with caution. 34% declared interest in the news concerning the digital ruble development but don’t intend to use this form of money. 21% are uninterested in the topic, while only 13% are willing to embrace the Russian CBDC.
Irrespective of Russians’ opinions on the subject, the digital ruble project has been evolving rapidly. The public was first informed about the initiative in 2020. Two years later, draft legislation was introduced, which has recently passed the final reading in the Duma, the Russian parliament. Still, it will take at least two more years for the digital ruble to launch.
According to the July statement from the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, the country-wide rollout of the Russian CBDC is likely to take place in 2025–2027. The plans were also confirmed by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova in her interview with Forbes.
She also stressed that the digital ruble “is not cryptocurrency or a stablecoin.” Unlike these two types of assets, the CBDC has a specified issuer – in this case, the CBR – which “takes responsibility” for the money issuance and its circulation.
At the beginning of August, the CBR’s board of directors has approved the digital ruble’s logo – the national currency sign in a circle.
