President Putin godkänner en digital rubel

• Den digitala rubeln träder i kraft den 1 augusti 2023.
• Den ryska regeringen förväntar sig inte ett massivt antagande av det nya CBDC förrän 2025 eller 2027. 
• Russian lawmakers believe the CBDC could help improve the country’s economy and also help Russia navigate Western sanctions. 

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Officiell dokument in Russia have confirmed that President Vladimir Putin signed the digital ruble into law on Monday, July 24, furthering Russia’s ambition for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). As per reports, the new law will be effected from August 1, 2023.

The digital ruble will serve as another payment option for Russians and will be overseen by the country’s central bank. The digital ruble however does not serve investment purposes. Interestingly, Russian citizens will not be forced to use the digital ruble.

Enligt Rysslands centralbankschef Elvira Nabiullina,

No one is going to force anyone into the digital ruble […] But we really hope that it will be more convenient and cheaper for both people and businesses, and they will start using it. This is a new opportunity.

While the digital ruble is a significant step in Russia’s push for a digital economy, Bank of Russia deputy governor Olga Skorobogatova revealed that the government does not anticipate massive adoption of the CBDC until 2025 or 2027.

Ryska lagstiftare visade anmärkningsvärd fart in driva framåt policyer för en CBDC men har hittills visat lite intresse för att införa regler för det bredare kryptoutrymmet. 

Rysslands centralbank har utvecklat CBDC-projektet sedan 2020 då den släppte sitt första forskningsdokument om ämnet. Den finansiella tillsynsmyndigheten ändrade senare rapporten för att inkludera kommentarer från ryska banker och andra aktörer inom finansbranschen.

The Bank of Russia originally viewed the digital ruble project as both a way of avoiding sanctions and an instrument to monitor how the government is using funds designated for social programs. Furthermore, experts believe the digital ruble could be a plus for Russia’s economy. Russia could possibly leverage the digital ruble to avoid some of the financial restrictions caused by Western and European sanctions. 

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