Five banks in the Russian Federation have expressed their readiness to participate in the testing of a potential pilot project for a digital ruble, launched by the central bank. This has been reported by the local Izvestia newspaper.
The Moscow Credit Bank, Dom.RF, Zenit, Promsvyazbank, and the Russian National Commercial Bank, which is based in Crimea, have announced their support for a central bank digital currency in Russia. A strong case for this was made by the Crimean bank RNCB that highlighted the need for the application of modern financial solutions to the peninsula that is under heavy international sanctions.
After Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation in 2014 the vast majority of financial service operators, banks, and payment providers ceased their work due to the international sanctions. There are now six banks operating in Crimea compared to the 36 just prior to the annexation. And all these six banks are under financial restrictions and sanctions.
Last week the central bank of Russia published its report on the opportunities and possible challenges of a digital ruble and announced public consultations for the idea of a potential pilot project of the virtual currency.
“Citizen could deposit their virtual rubles on e-wallets usable through mobile devices and other gadgets both in online and offline circumstances,” the report suggests.
The report also states that the digital ruble will be “a virtual form of the national currency and will have all the characteristics and functionality of money.” The presumption is that the digital ruble will be used alongside cash money. Each unit of the central bank’s cryptocurrency will possess a unique code, just like all banknotes have their numbers.
