Bank of Russia eyes full-scale digital ruble launch by next July

The Bank of Russia is set to launch the digital ruble for widespread use by July 2025, following successful pilot tests.

Russia’s central bank, the Bank of Russia, could launch its central bank digital currency — also known as the digital ruble — for widespread use as early as July 2025, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported today, July 30.

According to TASS, Russia’s central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, delivered the news in a speech at a meeting of the country’s Federation Council. Nabiullina stated that if everything goes as planned and the pilot programs are successfully completed, the country will launch the digital fiat currency in a “mass implementation” by next July. She noted, however, that the transition will be a “gradual process.”

Earlier in April, Nabiullina emphasized that the widespread implementation of Russia’s CBDC will likely take five to seven years, noting that it will be a “natural process because the choice of people and businesses is crucial, and it must be convenient for them.”

The (long) history of Russia’s CBDC

The Bank of Russia has been running a pilot project for its CBDC among local banks since August 2023. The initial phase involves around 600 employees from 12 banks, testing the opening and closing of digital wallets, wallet top-ups, person-to-person transfers, and automated payments and transfers.

The digital ruble represents a blockchain-based digital form of the Russian national currency. Like all CBDCs, it is by nature a centralized digital currency, issued and controlled by the central bank. The Russian government, and the central bank in particular, have been discussing and developing a state-issued digital currency, previously referred to as the “crypto ruble,” since as far back as 2017.

In a consultation paper from October 2020, the central bank reassured citizens that the proposed CBDC will complement, not replace, existing cash and non-cash rubles in circulation. In contrast, China, a key benchmark for Russia’s digitization efforts, has begun paying civil servants in Changshu state salaries using its own CBDC, the digital yuan, to encourage the adoption of the state-controlled currency.