Russia's Monetary Authority to Trial Actual Settlements With Digital Ruble

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) is going to proceed to the next phase of the digital ruble pilot project on the first day of April. Testing will involve real transactions with the new form of the national fiat, Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova told journalists.

The plan is to start with transfers between individuals and payments between trade and service companies, the top official detailed. Skorobogatova emphasized that these will be "real transactions" and "real customers" of 13 banks that are ready to take part.

However, she also noted that the initial number of these transactions, as well as the number of participating clients, will be limited. Ordinary customers will not be able to participate in the testing at the first stage, the banker said on the sidelines of the Cybersecurity in Finance forum in Yekaterinburg.