Bank of Russia to Pilot CBDC in April

[Argoo]

I can't see how interest in this from the average citizen will be anything greater than zero. Because it's still a Russian ruble, only in a digital form instead of notes. This will actually make it even less convenient for businesspeople because they have to interact with clients who may not use technology, whereas CDBC requires both parties to have a digital device in order to make any transactions.

Same goes for just about any other CDBC in the world.

CBDC will greatly increase the possibilities and efficiency of cashless payments. Therefore, the interest of citizens and businessmen in national CBDC will be. Such payments, unlike non-cash bank payments, will be almost instantaneous. At the same time, the Central Bank will be able to fully control transactions and, if necessary, block their completion. But in any case, the advantages of CBDC over bank non-cash transactions are obvious.

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[348Judah]

When i consider the rate Russians have been involved in cryptocurrency, then I don't expect them to introduce CBDC before making decision on weather to adopt bitcoin as legal tender considering the recent experience it had been through during the cause of the ongoing war, adoption of CBDC does not make any difference or something new that best suit the people's interest since bitcoin is the major attraction for digital currency and not digital currency.

[o48o]

When i consider the rate Russians have been involved in cryptocurrency, then I don't expect them to introduce CBDC before making decision on weather to adopt bitcoin as legal tender considering the recent experience it had been through during the cause of the ongoing war, adoption of CBDC does not make any difference or something new that best suit the people's interest since bitcoin is the major attraction for digital currency and not digital currency.

I don't see how CBDC shoulld necessarily even be blockchain based. At least in anykind of blockchain we have now. And even if it is, the assets on it don't necessarily have to be permissionless even if the underlying native coin would be. So Bitcoin or regulation of any cryptocurrency doesn't need to have anything to do with it.

Although among other obvious difficulties i already mentioned earlier combined with the brain drain of Russia i am guessing this will be another pointless pilot.

[serveria.com]

Instead of making up some digital ruble crap they could just embrace Bitcoin instead. There is no real way to filter out all tx made by the Russians and stop/ban them. They could just keep their profit gained by selling fossil fuels in Bitcoin, without withdrawing or converting it to rubles or any other currency. Operating like this, it would be pretty impossible to trace and stop these transactions.

[Hispo]

Instead of making up some digital ruble crap they could just embrace Bitcoin instead. There is no real way to filter out all tx made by the Russians and stop/ban them. They could just keep their profit gained by selling fossil fuels in Bitcoin, without withdrawing or converting it to rubles or any other currency. Operating like this, it would be pretty impossible to trace and stop these transactions.

Russian government has embarrassed authoritarianism, so the widespread acceptance of Bitcoin by them is not compatible because of their ideals.

For example, if they adopted Bitcoin they could not seize or freeze the money of some political adversaries and protestors among the Russian population. They want a system which grants them complete control, not Bitcoin.

[Captain Corporate]

I agree that bitcoin would never be a solution for them inwards, they could maybe let the citizens use if they have money outside, in order to bring it in inside, like those sanctioned oligarchs and all could just use bitcoin to funnel their money from other nations into Russia, which would be a benefit for them. However, they would never let the little guy use it because Putin doesn't want any competition, they may have elections but they are no different than North Korea, just because they "look" a bit free, doesn't mean they are actually free. China, North Korea and Russia, these are all dictatorships that we need to be careful about, and they will never allow bitcoin, something decentralized, to be accepted widely there.

[Gyfts]

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China has the upper hand because there isn't any separation between central banks, government, and "private" banks. I use private loosely, because the Chinese government has complete control over them even if they're designated as non-state entities. If the Chinese government were so inclined, they could compel all their citizens to use CBDC's. They haven't hesitated to use authoritarianism in the past for compliance and most all banking in China is digitalized so it'd be pretty simple to introduce.

[kryptqnick]

Well, Russia faced heavy sanctions for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and as a part of it, many of its banks were cut off from SWIFT. I guess they want to show their own people that they can build something of their own, and a fairly simple way to do it is to launch a CBDC. Also, if they manage to agree with potential allies like China or Iran, that digital currency could come in handy to avoid sanctions and get the trade going. So it seems like a good time to launch something. After all, with the war not going well for Russia, they need other achievements to appease the public.

[DrBeer]

Well, Russia faced heavy sanctions for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and as a part of it, many of its banks were cut off from SWIFT. I guess they want to show their own people that they can build something of their own, and a fairly simple way to do it is to launch a CBDC. Also, if they manage to agree with potential allies like China or Iran, that digital currency could come in handy to avoid sanctions and get the trade going. So it seems like a good time to launch something. After all, with the war not going well for Russia, they need other achievements to appease the public.

CBDC is not the easiest way. But most importantly - it does not solve current problems! I already wrote CBDC - this is preparation for the lowering of a new "iron curtain" and total control of the population of Russia. The Kremlin is afraid of growing discontent, growing problems, and the possibility of other countries helping the opposition forces, at least in terms of funding and support. There are only a few options for financing from outside:
- cash
- non-cash funds
- cryptocurrency.

The first two options are already under the total control of the state. The second theme is "double-edged sword". On the one hand, the Kremlin regime wants to use this somehow for cross-border payments. Russia's banking system is increasingly isolated from international financial systems. On the other hand, this mechanism works in both directions, which means that others can receive these funds. But for example, in Russia, in a printing house, you cannot pay for printing services, for example, posters, for bitcoin. So it is necessary to exchange on the stock exchange and withdraw to a card account. Or the option of exchanging for cash through private hands is possible. And this is an uncontrolled process. But any totalitarian regime needs TOTAL control. And then CBDC appears on the screen! The fiat ruble is changed to the CBDC ruble, and that's it - there is control, any suspicious movement - and the funds are frozen!

[Ozero]

Instead of making up some digital ruble crap they could just embrace Bitcoin instead. There is no real way to filter out all tx made by the Russians and stop/ban them. They could just keep their profit gained by selling fossil fuels in Bitcoin, without withdrawing or converting it to rubles or any other currency. Operating like this, it would be pretty impossible to trace and stop these transactions.

First of all, highly developed countries will never accept international payments in bitcoins. The risk is very high, and not only due to the high price volatility of bitcoin. CBDCs can partially solve the current payment problem in Russia, almost all of whose banks are cut off from the SWIFT international payment system, especially if the digital ruble is backed by, as stated, gold. But the digital ruble has been talked about in Russia for many years, and all the deadlines for its introduction have not been observed. So it's too early to talk about it. First you need to see this Russian CBDC.

[Argoo]

Instead of making up some digital ruble crap they could just embrace Bitcoin instead. There is no real way to filter out all tx made by the Russians and stop/ban them. They could just keep their profit gained by selling fossil fuels in Bitcoin, without withdrawing or converting it to rubles or any other currency. Operating like this, it would be pretty impossible to trace and stop these transactions.

Precisely because bitcoin cannot be tracked and stopped transactions, Russia as a state will never accept it as legal tender on its territory. In any case, this will not happen in the near future. Now the Russian government is coming to the fore to prevent the flight of capital abroad, which is now happening massively due to the failed war in Ukraine. And the introduction of bitcoin or another decentralized cryptocurrency will contribute to the uncontrolled outflow of money abroad. But this is for citizens. No laws are written for the government itself in Russia. Therefore, at the government level, bitcoin can be used, but this will be classified information to the public.