Yesterday, the Russian government signed a law introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) along with a corresponding electronic platform. The short document avoids any mentions of privacy, which presumably suggests the Bank of Russia could have access to customers’ personal data. It also allows individuals to bequeath the rights to a digital ruble account, thus giving heirs the right to inherit a testator’s CBDC funds in case of decease.
The new law comes after months of delays at Russia’s State Duma, which had held up the legislation needed to introduce the digital ruble. Latterly it was amended to support its usage by non-residents. Now that President Vladimir Putin has signed the document into law, the central bank will be able to move ahead with the live pilot that was scheduled to start in April.
Notably, the document seems pretty short. Whereas the recent digital euro bill was 62 pages long, the Russian law is only four pages. It refers to the introduction of a “third form of money” to complement the existing physical banknotes and commercial banks’ electronic money, and amends existing articles of the Russian civil code.
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