The Bank of Russia's (BoR) digital currency project, known as the Central Bank of Russia digital currency (CBDC), has introduced its official logo and outlined its commission rates. The CBDC project, developed by the Bank of Russia, has revealed it s logo design and disclosed its commission fee structure. Until 2025, no commission will be charged, maintaining a zero-rate policy. The Bank of England, on August 3, also introduced the visual identity for its own digital currency, the digital ruble, wh ich features a circular international ruble symbol and is available in different color combinations.
The CBDC's official logo is accompanied by details about the upcoming commission fees for various CBDC services. All services will be offered free of charge until the end of 2024. After that, starting from 2025, business-to-business transactions will incur a fee of 15 rubles ($0.16) per transaction. Individual transactions transferring to a business account will carry a fee of 0.3% of the transaction amount, and civil service fees will be charged at a rate of 0.2%. The digital ruble bill was signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 24, with the CBDC's official launch date set for August 1, 2023. A pilot phase involving 13 local banks will initiate the CBDC's implementation.
The Bank of Russia will act as the primary operator of the digital ruble infrastructure, enabling it to be used as a method of payment and transfer. BoR Governor Elvira Nabiullina clarified that citizens will not be compelled to adopt the CBDC, as it will coexist ongside physical cash and non-digital rubles. BoR Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova indicated that widespread adoption of the digital ruble in Russia is not anticipated until around 2025 or potentially 2027. As the country's regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies continues to be postponed, private digital currencies remain largely unregulated in Russia. State Duma member Anatoly Aksakov has pledged the introduction of four cryptocurrency-related bills, covering areas such as mining, taxation, and international cryptocurrency settlements, by May 2023.
