Digital Ruble: Russian Parliament Opens Door for New Currency

• Russian Parliament has voted in favor of a draft law allowing the implementation of the digital version of the national currency, the ruble.
• The State Duma passed a bill introducing legislative changes necessary for the realization of the digital ruble project.
• The Bank of Russia plans to start testing the digital ruble with real users and transactions on April 1 and aims for a full launch in 2021.

Russian Parliament Votes in Favor of Digital Ruble

Russian lawmakers have approved a draft law facilitating the implementation of the digital version of the national currency, the ruble. This legislation amends various other acts to introduce definitions and establish procedures related to its launch.

State Duma Passes Digital Ruble Bill on First Reading

The lower house of Russian parliament, the State Duma, has adopted in its first reading a bill introducing legislative changes necessary for launching this state-backed coin’s platform as well as for opening a digital wallet. It assigns sole operator role to Central Bank of Russia (CBR) which will guarantee its safe functioning.

Definition Terms and Procedures

The draft suggests terms like „participant“ and „user“ when referring to those accessing this platform and proposes procedures for doing so without obtaining user consent or notifying data protection body responsible. It also secures status of digital ruble as a currency of Russian Federation while defining other central banks‘ currencies as foreign ones.

Civil Code Amendments

Alongside this bill, amendments were also adopted to Civil Code classifying CBDC as non-cash money while regulating inheritance aspects along with it too. Proposals for further revisions can be accepted by mid-April before second reading takes place.

Testing and Launch Date

Bank or Russia plans to start testing with actual users soon on April 1st with an aim for full launch somewhere during 2021.