Russia’s central bank will start testing the conversion of the digital ruble into foreign currency

As part of the second stage of testing the new national currency, the regulator will add the possibility to open accounts for non-resident clients to use the digital ruble.

Russia’s central bank will start testing the conversion of the digital ruble into another currency

Russian bank will start testing the conversion of the digital ruble into foreign currency in 2022. This is stated in the proposal of the main goals of the digitalization of the financial market for the period 2022-2024, which published regulator. According to the document, the first stage of testing the digital ruble will be launched next year, which will link credit organizations and C2C operations (Consumer to Consumer).

In the second stage of testing, the Federal Ministry of Finance will be connected to the digital ruble platform, support for smart contracts, integrated financial intermediaries, infrastructure (stock exchanges, brokers, marketplaces, insurance companies) and offline mode will be implemented. The ability to convert the digital ruble into foreign currencies and the introduction of wallets for non-resident clients will be tested.

In November, it became clear that the central bank planned to charge fees for digital ruble operations. According to Kirill Pronin, director of financial technology at Russia’s bank, commissions for transactions with the digital ruble will be lower than commissions for bank transfers in banks and not higher than in the rapid payment system.