The Central Bank of Russia detailed two ways to introduce digital rubles and other state-backed coins in international payments. The monetary authority also plans to begin testing consumer-to-business (C2B) operations in the first quarter of this year.
Russia’s central bank to propose a platform for digital currency payments in foreign trade
In the midst of sanctions and financial restrictions, the Bank of Russia in its efforts to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is preparing to offer a solution for processing cross-border CBDC payments, the Russian press service revealed.
The proposal is part of a presentation seen by Economic Daily Kommersant. It outlines two potential settlement models that Russia’s monetary policy regulator intends to develop in the first quarter of 2023.
The first one relies on a bilateral agreement between states to integrate digital currency platforms. This approach focuses on ensuring convertibility between the CBDCs of the two partner countries and facilitating remittances according to pre-agreed rules.
As an alternative, the Bank of Russia proposes the establishment of a single multilateral platform that would allow payments between digital currencies of several countries. These transactions would also be executed under common standards and protocols.
Bank of Russia to experiment with C2B transactions in digital rubles
Russia’s access to global finance and markets has been severely restricted by Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. In addition to the push to accelerate the adoption of digital rubles, Russia’s central bank is softening its stance as long as crypto payments are employed only for international trade or under a special legal regime.
The presentation cited by the Russian daily also offers a glimpse of other next steps in the CBDC project, including testing in C2B transactions with participating banks. So far, more than a dozen banks and other financial companies have participated in the tests.
Preparation of the legislation necessary to regulate operations with the digital version of the national currency is also a goal for this time period. The respective bills have already been submitted in December. The financial authorities also plan to pilot digital ruble payments between customers on a limited scale.
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