Russian Central Bank: Use of Digital Ruble in Russia to Be Voluntary

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The use of the digital ruble in Russia will be voluntary, with citizens able to personally choose between various forms of currency, Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Thursday.

"The most important thing we are going to talk about is the voluntariness. It [the use of the digital ruble] will be a personal choice. Some people, for example, don't use smartphones and are not going to use them. There will be other forms of currency available for them, to which they are accustomed, both cash and non-cash," Nabiullina told the lower chamber of the Russian parliament.

The prototype platform for the digital ruble was finished in December 2021. The Central Bank of Russia is planning to use the digital ruble as an additional form of Russia's national currency. It will be possible to use the digital ruble both for offline and online payments, and it will not have any expiration date. The regulator will grant access to the digital ruble to all economic agents, including individuals, businesses and the government.

Russia’s central bank is also ready to be open in its thinking on cryptocurrency transactions between Russian and foreign entities, Nabiullina highlighted.

"We think that the new reality calls for a limited use of cryptocurrencies in external payments … We are ready to show flexibility and allow entrepreneurs to settle external payments with foreign contractors in crypto if it solves their problems," she said in parliament.

Cryptocurrencies in Russia are not officially accepted as a form of payment, but central bank governors said on Monday that the Bank of Russia was considering allowing the use of digital coins for financial transactions with a limited pool of trusted partners, primarily organizations with partial state ownership.