The State Duma Committee approved the bill for the phased introduction of the digital ruble

The bill for the phased introduction of the digital ruble into wide circulation has been approved by the State Duma's Committee on Financial Markets. This is reported by "Izvestia."

The lower house will consider the bill at the meeting on May 20.

According to the publication, the regulator and the institutions involved in the pilot are technologically ready for a broader use of CBDC as early as the middle of this year. The Central Bank plans to further discuss smart contracts with market participants, which are increasingly attracting interest from banks, businesses, and the government.

"The mass adoption of the digital ruble will occur after the details are worked out and consultations are held on the economic model that is most attractive to the clients of institutions," - explained at the Central Bank.

It is proposed to expand the pilot project in terms of the number of participants and the range of operations.

In February, ForkLog reported, citing the media, about the postponement of the mass launch of the digital ruble scheduled for July 1. Among the reasons are the "not fully defined" legal framework of the project and the CBDC platform still being in the development stage.

The law on the national digital currency of the Russian Federation came into effect on August 1, 2023. In the same month, the Central Bank launched a testing program involving a limited number of banks. Later, the initiative was expanded.

At the end of 2024, the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Finance, and the Treasury conducted trials of certain operations with the digital ruble within the framework of the budget process.

Let us remind you that experts have concluded that the costs of implementing CBDC may be unaffordable for small financial institutions.