Bank of Russia: Who will have access to transactions with the digital ruble

The Central Bank continues to be cautious about expanding the scope of digital assets.

Alexey Zabotkin, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said that at the first stage of the integration of the digital ruble, non-residents of the Russian Federation will not be able to open electronic wallets:

“At launch, digital ruble wallets will only be opened for Russian residents. At what point and how quickly we will switch to a digital ruble for non-residents will be determined by the success of the implementation and the current external economic situation: how much it will be in demand at all.”

The official noted that the Central Bank continues to take a prudent stance regarding scaling and accepting crypto assets, unregulated stablecoins and digital financial assets as means of payment.

“In terms of foreign economic activity, given the current circumstances, it is possible that this position will be adjusted based on the results of the discussions that are currently taking place. But within the country, the Russian ruble will remain the only legal tender. Regarding the digital ruble, when it is launched, the digital one will become the third form of our national currency. It can be used in foreign economic activity in exactly the same way as non-cash and cash rubles can now be used,” the Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia emphasized.

The Central Bank recently announced that it continues to prepare a regulatory framework for the use of the digital ruble – the concept of digital assets is being introduced into the draft of a new chart of accounts for credit institutions. A little earlier, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market of the Russian Federation, said that one of the applications of the digital ruble would be international settlements with China.