Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the country’s central bank digital currency is ready for mass use, two months ahead of a September 1 deadline that will require major banks and large retailers to accept it.
Nabiullina said Thursday in remarks in St. Petersburg that “everything is ready for the wide use of the digital ruble” and added, in remarks on the rollout, that “systemically important banks and large retailers will need to join in to accept it” as the deadline approaches.
The digital ruble is a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, issued directly by the Bank of Russia. President Vladimir Putin signed the legislation authorizing it roughly three years ago, and the rollout has moved in phases since.
From September 1, 2026, retailers that bank with major institutions and booked more than 120 million rubles in revenue last year must accept digital ruble payments, the Bank of Russia said. Banks with a universal license and their retail clients above 30 million rubles in revenue follow on September 1, 2027, while the smallest outlets, those under 5 million rubles, are exempt. Twelve systemically important banks are expected to support the currency from the first deadline.
To encourage uptake, the central bank plans to pay commercial banks 0.67 rubles, less than one cent, for each salary payment processed in digital rubles.
Public appetite looks thinner. A survey by state pollster VTsIOM found most Russians “do not understand why they need a third form of money alongside cash and bank deposits,” calling the digital ruble an “abstract” concept. A separate SuperJob poll found only one in 10 economically active Russians would take their full salary in digital rubles, with another 5% willing to accept part of their wages that way.
The rollout also runs into a wall abroad. The EU’s 20th sanctions package, adopted in April, added the digital ruble to its list of banned crypto assets, part of a response to what the bloc called Russia’s growing reliance on crypto for international transactions. The ban takes effect May 24, a preemptive move to close a sanctions-evasion channel before Russia’s mass rollout.
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