Russia’s central bank weighs CBDC launch delay to mid-2026 over migration issues: report

The Bank of Russia is reportedly pushing back the digital ruble’s launch to mid-2026 as banks face hurdles in migrating from foreign software amid sanctions.

Russia‘s central bank, the Bank of Russia, is considering delaying the full launch of its central bank digital currency — known as the digital ruble — until mid-2026, as banks expected to support it face technical migration challenges, according to a Frank Media report citing unnamed banking executives.

The Bank of Russia had initially planned to roll out the CBDC for mass use by July this year but later decided to push the date further. Central bank head Elvira Nabiullina said in February that the launch would take place at a later date but didn’t specify when nor the reason for the delay.

Now, sources say one of the reasons is banks’ difficulties in transitioning from foreign database solutions as not everyone successfully migrated from Oracle, database management systems, which banks use to store and manage vast amounts of data.

Another banking executive mentioned concerns about technical security and how the digital ruble system would function during power outages. Despite the delay, officials say the pilot program is still on track.

A central bank official said at a Russian economic forum in early April that the platform’s functionality is working as expected and there haven’t been any major issues so far. They also mentioned that the number of pilot participants has grown, with individual users rising from 500 to 2,000 and businesses increasing from 30 to 50.