The digital ruble is a new national currency of the Russian Federation
On July 24, 2023, the President of the Russian Federation signed a new law on the digital ruble, which will come into force as early as August 1, 2023. In addition to cash payment and non-cash settlement, a new form of settlement in the form of a digital ruble is added.
The digital ruble is an individual digital code stored in an electronic wallet on a special platform of the Central Bank of Russia. The law establishes the status of the operator of the digital ruble platform for the Central Bank of Russia. That is, the Central Bank of Russia will issue the digital money, and will be responsible for its security and for conduct transactions. The banks will function as financial intermediaries in transactions between the digital ruble, the Central Bank of Russia and the end users.
The digital ruble can be used almost in the same way as "normal" money – you can pay with the digital ruble, you can transfer the digital ruble, as well as accept payments with the digital ruble. The digital ruble can be converted into non-cash forms and back. After converting the ruble to a non-cash form, you can receive cash.
But the digital ruble will also have some specificities. In particular, there will be no interest income for it. In the form of the digital ruble, you can’t open a bank deposit or get a credit.
An account with digital rubles can be only one and only on one platform of the Central Bank of Russia.
Unified tariffs for all users are established by the Central Bank of Russia as the sole operator of the platform. It is known that transactions and payments in the digital ruble will be free for individuals, and tariffs for legal entities accepting payment in the digital ruble will be 0.3% of the payment. At the same time, the law provides for the possibility of changing tariffs.