TL; DR Breakdown

• Bank of Russia will charge fees for CBDC transactions
• The bank’s director says the charges will be small
• The bank is still opposed to digital assets

Central bank digital currencies have become something that no country wants to be left behind regarding its development. Although some countries are in front regarding its development, others are doing pretty well with their preparations. One such country is Russia, whose CBDC has been in the works for quite a while. In a recent report, the country has revealed another critical detail of the yet-to-be-released digital currency. According to the report, the government of Russia has announced that it will take charges from transactions carried out using the digital ruble.

Bank of Russia aims for small charges

According to the statement of Kirill Pronin, the director of financial technology at the Bank of Russia, users would incur charges that are smaller than that of wire transfers. The report also claims that the director mentioned that users would not be charged an amount higher than the one paid in the Faster Payment System.

The Faster Payment System is a payment method that allows users to make speedy transactions across banks in Russia. Launched in 2019, users who intend to carry out transactions using the FPS will not be charged any fees, provided their transactions are up to $1,360. Provided a user wants to exceed that range, the bank would levy a 0.5% charge on such transactions. However, users cannot be charged more than $20 for one transaction.

Bank of Russia’s governor opposed to cryptocurrencies

A previous report mentioned that the Central Bank of Russia is making plans to explore its digital currency pilot tests by early next year. The digital ruble will complement the two means of exchange widely recognized across the country; cash and online. According to the premier bank, one key benefit that the digital currency will have over the other modes of payment will be its smaller charge for transactions.

The Governor of the Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, previously mentioned that the development and use of the CBDC would rid the country of the reliance on digital assets like Bitcoin. In her statement at the Russian state Duma, Nabiullina said that governments worldwide should desist from encouraging the usage of digital assets. In her defense, the Governor mentioned that crypto has no legal backing since it doesn’t have a potential known developer. Nabiullina said that she views crypto negatively since they are trying to act like physical cash.

With people clamoring for alternatives, she said countries could look to develop their CBDC. Although the Bank of Russia is still opposed to adopting crypto, a few investments in the country are adopting the assets. The Russian state Duma previously ordered the creation of a committee that will look into the regulation of the assets. A museum in Russia recently raised $400,000 via Binance to hammer on the need to adopt crypto. Backing this up, Vladimir Putin recently said that crypto could be used as a means of holding cash and nothing more because of its unstable nature.