Russia's central bank wants to ensure that the digital ruble is convertible to foreign currency and can be used by non-residents. In a paper on the digitization of Russia's financial sector, the regulator reiterated its concerns about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and insisted that state-issued digital currencies are safer.
Russian bank will give foreigners access to their CBDC
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) will facilitate the exchange of digital rubles with foreign currencies and allow consumers outside their jurisdiction to open and use a digital ruble portfolio. The monetary authorities have expressed this intention in a recently published draft, “Guidelines for the Digitization of Financial Markets 2022–2024”.
The Bank of Russia began auditing central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in 2018 and decided to look into the possibility of issuing such a currency last year. A consultancy paper was published in October 2020 to gather feedback from financial sector actors. In April 2021, the regulator unveiled a concept for the digital ruble outlining its basic architecture.