“The group included 12 banks, which expressed a desire to participate in the pilot project and sent corresponding letters to the Bank of Russia,” the official website of the Central Bank says.
The Central Bank explained that "the digital ruble is a project to create a new payment infrastructure to increase the availability and reduce the cost of payments and transfers for citizens and businesses."
It is noted that the development of a prototype platform for the digital ruble is planned to be completed in December, and testing will begin in January 2022.
Earlier, the Central Bank admitted that the digital ruble will eventually replace cash.
Trustee of IFC Solid Evgeny Marishin in an interview with Nation News called the advantages of digital currency for Russia.