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- Miracles of piloting: the Central Bank positively assessed the testing of the digital ruble
Miracles of piloting: the Central Bank positively assessed the testing of the digital ruble
About 50 legal entities have opened accounts in digital rubles as part of the testing, the Central Bank said. At the same time, no critical, technological or legislative barriers have been identified in testing the digital ruble, the pilot continues to work and expand. Izvestia investigated why the introduction of the digital ruble is necessary and what consequences it will lead to.
Pilot development
When implementing large high—tech innovative projects with a large number of participants, changing deadlines is a normal workflow, the press service of the Central Bank assured Izvestia.
"Our pilot is going well, it is ongoing, and more and more people and companies are involved in it. The pilot will continue to develop, including work on the use of the digital ruble in the budget process. We have repeatedly said that mass implementation will begin only when we are sure that we have worked out all possible nuances together with the participants of the pilot, and if necessary, we will extend the pilot," the regulator noted.
Technologically, the Central Bank, together with a number of banks participating in the pilot, are ready for wider use of the digital ruble from the middle of this year. But it is important that different market participants are ready for this.
"In addition, as we noted, smart contract services require additional discussion with the market. Banks, businesses, and the government are now showing increasing interest in their use. In any project, it is critically important to take into account the feedback from all participants. Therefore, we are continuing the pilot, working on those aspects that are interesting and important to the market," the Bank of Russia clarified.
The first stage of the expanded pilot, which initially involved connecting 9,000 customers and 1.2 thousand organizations, is going slower than expected and may take at least another year and a half, said Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at the Presidential Academy. Thus, mass implementation may take place no earlier than the end of next year or the beginning of 2027.
— So far, the system is being tested in a limited format, with individual small operations and a small number of clients. The load on the system is about 300 payments per day. But its implementation will become an additional tool for the state, which will allow tracking payments and controlling the movement of money, the expert believes.
There are probably some technological flaws, because the project as a whole is running late and requires additional costs from banks, Lyudmila Rokotianskaya, an expert on the stock market at BCS World of Investments, told Izvestia.
— There may also be some nuances of transactions with the digital ruble, various motivation systems for its use, and marketing aspects. From what the Central Bank has publicly announced, smart contracts require improvements. Smart contracts can be used in the system of budget payments, as well as in investment activities with the participation of the state, with their help it is possible to control the targeted use of funds, the expert said.
It is expected that the digital ruble will not only reduce the transaction costs of the bank transfer business, but also give more control over the targeted spending of budget funds, Lyudmila Rokotyanskaya emphasized. In theory, the digital ruble should make life more difficult for scammers, because digital currency is more difficult to steal. In addition, there is talk that the digital ruble should simplify and reduce the cost of cross-border payments.
— China, for example, is already actively using the digital yuan in everyday life. And China has already prepared a technological solution for international settlements in digital currencies," the expert recalled.
Transparency of transactions
The mass introduction of the digital ruble is planned towards the end of 2025. By this time, Rosfinmonitoring is going to start fully connecting banks to the Transparent Blockchain system. The project is currently in the final stage of approval with the Central Bank and commercial banks. So far, everything is going according to plan, but given the scale and sensitivity of the project, it cannot be ruled out that the deadlines may be shifted again, Denis Astafyev, founder of the SharesPro investment company, told Izvestia.
— The introduction of the digital ruble is necessary for the state as a tool to strengthen financial control. Its main goal is to provide full control over the movement of funds, especially in connection with cryptocurrencies and cash, which are now more difficult to track," the expert explained. — The closed blockchain of the digital ruble will allow regulators to see all transactions, but without public access to them, unlike open decentralized systems like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
The consequences of the implementation, in his opinion, will be tangible. On the one hand, the state will receive a powerful tool to combat shadow operations, money laundering and illegal transfers. On the other hand, it creates risks for the privacy of citizens. The digital ruble can be frozen, withdrawn, or restricted in use (for example, prohibited from spending on certain goods or moving abroad). This turns it not just into a digital currency, but into a means of controlling user behavior.
Thus, according to Denis Astafyev, the digital ruble is not just a step towards digitalization of finance, but an element of the system of full control over cash flows in the country.
Uncertain consequences
The introduction of the digital ruble is the next step in the development of the financial system and primarily concerns the accounting of banknotes, Valery Piven, Managing Director and head of the ACRA Financial Institutions ratings group, said in an interview with Izvestia. Its use can lead to lower transaction costs, which will have a positive impact on economic growth. In addition, there will be a further abandonment of cash, which, together with other factors, will reduce the share of the gray economy.
— At the same time, it is difficult to predict how the introduction of the digital ruble will affect the cost of credit, as well as the cost of raising funds. In the worst case scenario, credit institutions' access to customer funds will decrease, which will become a factor in the growth of the cost of liabilities and, as a result, loan rates," the expert noted.
Izvestia sent a request to the Central Bank, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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