Why did Russia need to introduce a digital ruble

53

From August 1, 2023, the so-called digital ruble will begin to operate on the territory of Russia in a test mode. What is it, how does it differ from fashionable cryptocurrencies, and why was this alternative form of financial settlement needed at all?

Third form


On the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, regarding the digital ruble, the following is verbatim:



Now we have cash (banknotes and coins in our wallets) and non-cash (money in bank accounts, on cards), and in addition to them, a third form will appear - digital.

Elvira Nabiullina's office praises innovation and urges not to be afraid of change:

Citizens, as now, will be able to independently choose which form of the ruble to use - cash, non-cash or digital. The choice is entirely up to the individual. At the same time, if someone transfers digital rubles to you, you can instantly transfer them to your bank account at any time, and then, if you wish, withdraw cash from an ATM or bank cash desk.

In general, the description of the digital ruble sounds very similar to a hybrid of cryptocurrency and non-cash. What is it really?

Indeed, this third form of our national currency has some common features with the indicated means of calculation. The digital ruble is just a program code, which makes it similar to bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, but there are also fundamental differences. All these cryptocurrencies are not backed by anything, and you can mine them in any basement, and the digital ruble is issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and is backed by all its reserves, just like the usual “wooden” ruble. The exchange rate of the Russian ruble, whether ordinary or digital, will be the same. To work with the digital ruble, it will be necessary to open a special wallet on the platform of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and this is another difference from a decentralized cryptocurrency. And the difference between the digital ruble and non-cash money is that the first is issued by the Central Bank and introduced into the economy directly, bypassing the system of commercial banks.

Why, then, was it necessary to create this third form of our national currency?

Not potential, but POTENTIAL!


For the first time, mentions in the press about a certain digital ruble appeared back in 2020. Due to the pandemic turmoil, work on the project slowed down, but today it has accelerated again. It is quite obvious that this is due to Western sanctions, which have imposed serious restrictions on Russia's foreign trade activities.

Since 2014, after the Crimea, we have been threatened with the shutdown of the domestic banking system from SWIFT, and this has already partially happened. A few days ago, the Unistream financial transfer system fell under US sanctions, and Kazpost, the national postal operator of Kazakhstan, as well as Kazakhstan's Freedom Finance Bank and Uzbekistan's Halk Bank and Ipoteka Bank, were forced to suspend cooperation. Considering how much money is withdrawn through it by labor migrants to Central Asia, this is a very sensitive blow that can have far-reaching consequences.

The digital ruble can become one of the ways to solve this pressing problem of cross-border payments. National digital currencies issued by the Central Banks of these countries directly, without the direct participation of commercial banks, will be able to interact with each other in settlements through a common platform. The negative influence and unhealthy interest of a third party in other people's financial affairs will be minimized.

Also, the function of targeted control over its use can be incorporated into the digital currency. Each such ruble is a unique program code, which allows it to be “colored” like banknotes in a bank, which unlucky robbers try to steal and then use. In practice, it should look like this. The state allocates a certain amount from the budget for a specific project, for example, the construction of a road in a region. Sometimes it happens that some "crumbs" stick to the hands of dishonest intermediaries and contractors, being spent on the purchase of luxury real estate and other joys of the sweet life, and the roads are somehow not very good.

This will not work with the digital ruble, since the intended use of each can be tracked. Great idea! True, while this anti-corruption option is not in a hurry to be introduced, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation plans to first thoroughly test the entire system. But what is the potential, right?
53 comments
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  1. DO
    DO
    +4
    29 July 2023 12: 00
    In essence, the description of the digital ruble in this article is a cashless payment through the Central Bank.
    On the one hand, it is declared that the digital ruble is freely convertible into cash and commercial bank accounts.
    On the other hand, restrictions on the targeted use of the digital ruble have been declared.
    The problem is that these two declarations contradict each other. If there are restrictions on the intended use, free conversion is not possible.
    1. DO
      DO
      0
      29 July 2023 12: 33
      PS
      And further.

      The state allocates a certain amount from the budget for a specific project, for example, the construction of a road in a region. Sometimes it happens that some "crumbs" stick to the hands of dishonest intermediaries and contractors, being spent on the purchase of luxury real estate and other joys of the sweet life, and the roads are somehow not very good.
      This will not work with the digital ruble, since the intended use of each can be tracked. Great idea!

      Can't the state track the transfer of budgetary funds through commercial banks? What is the novelty of the idea?
      1. Victor M.
        Victor M.
        +1
        29 July 2023 16: 51
        The answer to the second question about the transfer of budgetary funds through commercial banks. Investigators have been calculating such wiring for years. And the digital ruble has a unique number and its owners can be tracked, even if he changed them a million, in minutes.
        1. DO
          DO
          +1
          29 July 2023 17: 40
          Victor M., do you want to say that the purpose of introducing the "digital ruble" is only technological, designed to provide the investigator with information about the full payment paths in minutes?
          But then it turns out that for the investigator only the Central Bank will have transparency of payments, and the unfortunate investigator will have to clarify the transfers of budget money through other commercial banks for years? Then what prevents the scammers from transferring "digital rubles" to a commercial bank account, and then using them at their discretion - after all, the investigator won't get to the bottom of it even after years?
          If so, only the establishment of order in the banking sector by the state, in terms of complete real-time information about the passage of their own money through the payment chain, will help here.
          1. Victor M.
            Victor M.
            0
            29 July 2023 18: 24
            No, well, how else to explain? To a commercial bank account. This can only be done by an individual. How can I transfer target money to com. bank? Then immediately a knapsack and surrender to prison. After all, that's the trick of the digital ruble is that it has an individual number. And by this number in seconds you can determine when, by whom, and to whom it was transferred.
            1. DO
              DO
              +1
              29 July 2023 18: 51
              Victor M., a simple example. The plant fulfills the state order for the production of, for example, electronics. To pay for the picking, the plant must pay a bunch of picking sellers an invoice from their commercial banks.
              That is, if it were your way, there would be no one to fulfill the state order, because the entire plant management would go to places not so remote.
              1. Victor M.
                Victor M.
                +1
                29 July 2023 19: 03
                Well, yes. The factory pays the seller and receives the goods. At any time, you can determine for which product, to whom, on what day, hour, this ruble was transferred. And the plant will not be able to spend exactly this ruble on the purchase of a chair for the director.
                1. DO
                  DO
                  +1
                  29 July 2023 19: 15
                  Victor M, what you wrote is possible only in two cases:
                  - the state will put things in order in all Russian banks;
                  - or the entire Russian economy will be served by the "digital ruble" by one Central Bank, and all commercial banks will die (what do you think? :))
                  1. Victor M.
                    Victor M.
                    +1
                    30 July 2023 10: 17
                    No way. You don't have an Internet? It's all spelled out. It says in Russian that the issuer of the digital ruble is only the Central Bank and no other bank. The Central Bank does not give loans. This is what commercial banks will do.
                    1. DO
                      DO
                      0
                      30 July 2023 12: 55
                      That is, you are hinting that all commercial banks will only have to issue loans, and all bank deposits of legal entities and individuals (accounts in digital rubles) will go only to the Central Bank? But where will commercial banks get the money for loans?
    2. Victor M.
      Victor M.
      +1
      29 July 2023 16: 48
      And where are the contradictions? Use it for other purposes, cash out, and you will be taken care of. A non-criminal, this is for ordinary consumers. No one gave him target designators where to spend it. You want to cash out, you want to pay like that. You want to put it on the map.
      1. DO
        DO
        +1
        29 July 2023 18: 13
        A non-criminal, this is for ordinary consumers. No one gave him target designators where to spend it. You want to cash out, you want to pay like that. You want to put it on the map.

        Then why does an individual need a "digital ruble"? It turns out that both an ordinary person and the state have less trouble with an existing card account in Sberbank or in another commercial bank.
        1. Victor M.
          Victor M.
          0
          29 July 2023 18: 27
          For the fact that for an individual, all transactions with him are carried out without paying interest. Everything is written about this ruble on the internet.
          1. DO
            DO
            +1
            29 July 2023 18: 57
            for an individual, all transactions with him are carried out without paying interest

            The question arises. If

            interest free

            then who will pay the bank's operating expenses (staff salaries, office maintenance, server computers, software, communications, etc.)? At whose expense is the banquet?
            1. Victor M.
              Victor M.
              0
              29 July 2023 19: 11
              no fees are charged for paying for goods or services with digital rubles. “On the other hand, no interest will accrue on account balances in digital currency: the Central Bank does not make such accruals

              This is the Central Bank. He does not work for profit. He works for the state. The fast payment system also has a small commission. Because operations with them are cheaper.
              1. DO
                DO
                0
                29 July 2023 19: 41
                Viktor M., you did not answer the question of who will pay the bank's operating expenses.
                1. Victor M.
                  Victor M.
                  +1
                  30 July 2023 10: 18
                  State. And yes, I'm not an educational program. If not in the topic, it would be possible to google before writing a comment.
                  1. DO
                    DO
                    0
                    30 July 2023 13: 30
                    Well, I'm talking to you, not the Internet.
                    Do you think that all operating expenses of the Central Bank for servicing the Russian economy should be paid by the state budget? But what about the independence of the Central Bank from the state, prescribed in the Constitution? In your opinion, it turns out that the operating costs of the digital ruble of the Central Bank should be paid by the state, but the state has nothing to do with the profits of the Central Bank (in accordance with the Constitution)?
                    In fact, the nationalization of the Central Bank and the closure of all commercial banks logically follow from your constructions.
                    The nationalization of the Central Bank is obviously necessary (not at all because of the digital ruble, but in order to restore state order in commercial banks, and so as not to give the West 300 billion more greenbacks each).
                    But the liquidation of commercial banks is over the edge. From here one step to the state monopoly on production and trade. Soviet Union, hello! Again, the shortage of sausages, tiles and other consumer goods for the population?
                    1. DO
                      DO
                      0
                      30 July 2023 14: 22
                      PS Yes, and hello not only to the Council of Deputies, but also to the civil war in Russia - the dream and longed-for goal of our sworn "partners". For 100 years ago, the accession of the state monopoly in Russia was accompanied precisely by a civil war.
        2. Vladimir Tuzakov
          Vladimir Tuzakov
          +1
          30 July 2023 22: 01
          The digital ruble has the main advantage, it is not tied to the US dollar, like the issue of an ordinary ruble. Also, the emission and control capabilities of the digital ruble are more advanced. The fact that financial systems are moving towards digital equivalents is the result of the development of economies and finance...
  2. Bakht
    Bakht
    +2
    29 July 2023 12: 28
    Considering how much money is withdrawn through it by labor migrants to Central Asia, this is a very sensitive blow that can have far-reaching consequences.

    The digital ruble can become one of the ways to solve this pressing problem of cross-border payments.

    Does this mean that withdrawing money abroad will become even easier? Not a very clear option.
    1. Alexey Lan
      Alexey Lan
      0
      29 July 2023 12: 39
      The withdrawal of rubles abroad will indeed be even easier. However, even now you can take ruble cards with you abroad. The question is whether the same Tajik, and even more German banks will want to convert them into their national currency. After all, stores operate in their national currency, as well as their own settlement system between enterprises. One option of the digital ruble is clear to me: it will be possible to track through which hands and organizations this ruble has passed.
      1. Bakht
        Bakht
        0
        29 July 2023 13: 00
        Are ruble cards serviced abroad?
        As for the "cross-border exchange", there is, after all, a continuation in the article

        National digital currencies issued Central banks of these countries directly, without the direct participation of commercial banks, will be able to interact with each other in settlements through a common platform.

        How are things going with the "common platform? After all, as far as the media know, all digital money will be controlled by a single center, to which all Central Banks will be connected. And this center will work on a Western platform.
        1. Alexey Lan
          Alexey Lan
          0
          29 July 2023 13: 28
          Inside Russia, the functioning of the digital ruble is problem-free. As well as between individual entities having digital ruble wallets, regardless of where and in which country they are located. However, if the seller in the same France does not need rubles, but needs euros, then one cannot do without conversion and without banks or other exchange intermediaries. Whether it will be a "common platform" or separate banks and intermediaries remains to be seen. And the fact that the center, if it exists, will be on the western platform is not at all obvious. One thing is obvious, that it will not be very easy for different governments to control settlements and intermediaries, not like now. SWIFT for Russia was banned and problems arose.
    2. DO
      DO
      +4
      29 July 2023 12: 48
      It is clear that if you prohibit the transfer of migrants to their families, this will greatly limit the influx of migrants to the Russian Federation.
      But if now the ruble has value in the same Tajikistan, because people go to Russia to earn it, then the ban on transfers will hit the Russian financial system even harder - because then Tajikistan will turn away from the ruble, following the hostile West.
      If we are to limit the influx of migrants, then why not do it through direct legislative acts and their implementation, as in the whole world, and not through a blow to the ruble?
  3. Vasya 225
    Vasya 225
    +2
    29 July 2023 12: 48
    As for spying on officials - most likely nonsense. They'll get by without difficulty. But to obscure what is connected with parallel imports through the CIS countries, and also with the fact that, if necessary, taking migrants as ... can and will be useful. The main thing is that the people of the Russian Federation do not care.
    1. DO
      DO
      +1
      29 July 2023 13: 30
      But to obscure what is connected with parallel imports through the CIS countries

      "Darkening" of payments through the Central Bank, and not through another bank, today will lead to a strictly opposite result, given the many years of ties between the Central Bank leaders and the IMF.
  4. The comment was deleted.
    1. DO
      DO
      +3
      29 July 2023 14: 35
      Kulikov Viktor, if non-cash payments through the Central Bank are freely convertible into cash and into accounts of commercial banks, as Nabiullina promises, and there will be no forced payments to state employees only through "digital rubles (CR)" (that is, the use of the CR will be purely voluntary), then it seems nothing reprehensible for the Russians should not happen - let the Central Bank compete with Sberbank, it would only benefit.
      But the talk about the limitations of the CR is embarrassing. As if it is impossible to track the misuse of the budget today, through commercial banks. In practice, the limitations of the CR, plus possible salaries for state employees and pensions in the "limited" CR, will lead to what you wrote, which, in turn, will destabilize society.
    2. Victor M.
      Victor M.
      +1
      29 July 2023 16: 54
      Doesn't "card" slavery bother you? History repeats itself. Similarly, the crowd whined about the bank card.
      1. The comment was deleted.
        1. Victor M.
          Victor M.
          +1
          29 July 2023 18: 29
          What then is the problem? It's card slavery. ) Yes, and no one forces you to start a digital wallet by force. Again. All this was written about bank cards.
      2. Vladimir1155
        Vladimir1155
        +1
        29 July 2023 19: 33
        personally, card slavery bothers me, firstly it is unreliable, I never keep more on the card than I need for auto payments on rent, I immediately cash out my salary, pay cash wherever I can cash .... about the digital ruble, everything looks tempting, but how will it be it is not clear, even now put 300000 in the bank and they will require a document from you where did such money come from? the danger that the amount can be arrested or at least frozen, with the need to carry some papers, write letters to unanswered addresses, etc. is very high, especially since the order of all this is being developed by the central bank and most likely there will be unclear wording, terry bureaucracy, bureaucratic lawlessness, lengthy red tape, free interpretations of laws, inaccurate laws .... in general, the Central Bank wants to finally oust commercial banks from business and brocratize, possibly corrupt, the entire sphere of monetary circulation .... and this will be such a blow to business in the Russian Federation that a great depression will seem like flowers, ... in addition to extortionists from the Federal Tax Service GospozhN, Ros Poreb n, and other 200 extortionists, the field of corrupt administration = regulation = control = extortion = bankruptcy will begin to master the Central Bank and this will be the last nail in the coffin of industry and agriculture in RF
      3. DO
        DO
        -1
        2 August 2023 18: 20
        I have been using bank cards almost since their inception. One card for the arrival, the second with me for shopping.
        Card accounts of commercial banks are a time-tested world practice, unlike some murky "digital rubles" that only Nabiullina needs.
        By the way, the US is not going to introduce any "digital dollars".
  5. Bakht
    Bakht
    +1
    29 July 2023 14: 18
    National digital currencies issued by the Central Banks of these countries directly, without the direct participation of commercial banks, will be able to interact with each other in settlements through a common platform.

    At the same time, there is such information about the "common platform"
    The International Monetary Fund is working on a unified platform for interstate settlements for digital currencies of central banks of different countries.
    https://www.it-world.ru/it-news/reviews/194113.html

    At the same time, when they talk about the second or third circuit or the Stalinist two-circuit system, this is an absolute lie. The digital ruble is fundamentally different from the two-loop system of the Soviet financial system.
  6. Bakht
    Bakht
    +3
    29 July 2023 14: 53
    The introduction of "digital currencies" carries another danger. Real enough. The creation of a single center of financing obliges (does not imply, but specifically OBLIGES) the Central Bank to have reliable protection from any third-party interference. How many times lately have we read about hacker attacks on databases or about spyware bookmarks in the microprocessors of Western countries. As stated in one of the articles on the subject:

    Our Central Bank, headed by E. Nabiullina, did not explain to us why Russia needs a digital ruble and what mechanism for its implementation. An elementary problem immediately comes to mind - the technological infrastructure of the monetary system must be resistant to external influences, including direct targeted attacks, including attacks by the armed forces of foreign states using weapons of mass destruction, on key elements and infrastructure nodes. From this point of view, the centralized architecture (based on a single centralized technological platform managed by the Bank of Russia) is vulnerable, since it can be destroyed by a single blow to the central node (several nodes in the case of geographical separation). Failures in the operation of the centralized platform will lead to a halt in the functioning of the entire monetary system of the country, which will be tantamount to a halt in the national economy. Loss of data as a result of an outage will mean the loss of the national digital currency by entities whose digital currency title accounts were affected by the outage. A massive loss of data, which is possible, although unlikely, in the case of a centralized system will be tantamount to a complete loss of the national digital currency by a significant part of the subjects of the economy or all subjects.

    Does the Central Bank have a guarantee of preventing failures in the system?
    1. DO
      DO
      0
      29 July 2023 18: 39
      the technological infrastructure of the monetary system must be resistant to external influences, including direct targeted attacks, including attacks by the armed forces of foreign states using weapons of mass destruction, on key elements and nodes of the infrastructure.

      Today this is a burning question. The answers are simple.
      Firstly, it is impossible to kill the existing system of cash payments.
      Secondly, the state needs to ensure, as far as possible, the redundancy and survivability of interbank spare communication centers and communications.
      Thirdly, to organize the production of backup banking servers on domestic processors - on the technology that exists.
    2. Edvid
      Edvid
      -1
      29 July 2023 23: 00
      I believe that a simple protection of digital money settlements will be their duplication by the bank on tangible media. For example, as in the old days, on punched tape or, according to the modern one, by recording (non-electromagnetic) on disks. The record on such a disk is completely impossible to change.
      1. scolopendra
        scolopendra
        0
        1 August 2023 14: 44
        Blockchain has already been invented. Decentralization serves as protection - if data is replaced in one or several sources, then the remaining thousands and thousands of data sources will block the invalid operation. Recording operations on paper is the last century.
  7. Jacques sekavar
    Jacques sekavar
    +2
    29 July 2023 15: 43
    On the way of world globalization and the dominance of the US Federal Reserve CJSC stands the different status of the main banks. If the main bank of the PRC is a state structure, then the main bank of the Russian Federation is an independent structure from the state, which in fact stands above the state and determines the policy of the state through the key rate and the rate of the national mark.
    To bring everyone to a common denominator and digital banknotes are called upon, which are united in a system of interbank relations and money transfers under the supervision of the IMF, a controlling stake in which belongs to the shareholders of the US Federal Reserve CJSC, which will allow controlling the whole world, and after chipping and assigning a TIN, every person
    1. Victor M.
      Victor M.
      +1
      29 July 2023 16: 55
      Yeah, and a very long time ago they introduced a passport. Then bank cards. No freedom. )
      1. Bakht
        Bakht
        +7
        29 July 2023 18: 31
        The passport is in my pocket. Bank card too. Although this is already a limitation.
        The digital wallet is in someone else's uncle's pocket. If this uncle says "I'm sorry, but your wallet was stolen from me", then who will be to blame?
        300 billion has already been stolen. How much more do you need to put in someone else's pocket?
        1. Vladimir1155
          Vladimir1155
          +2
          29 July 2023 19: 40
          passprtr can be touched by hand, cash too, but the figure ??? money has disappeared from the card and you can’t prove anything, and if it’s from a digital account, then all the more, the money needs to be stored in a bank, better than a three-liter
          1. Vasya_33
            Vasya_33
            0
            29 July 2023 22: 40
            and if tomorrow is war?
            who learns about the three-liter in the garden?
          2. Vasya_33
            Vasya_33
            +1
            29 July 2023 23: 03
            and so in the "number" will remain ...
  8. Vasya_33
    Vasya_33
    +3
    29 July 2023 22: 44
    True, while this anti-corruption option is not in a hurry to implement

    maybe not to go out on themselves?
    1. Vasya_33
      Vasya_33
      +1
      29 July 2023 23: 07
      - Elections await...
  9. Edvid
    Edvid
    -1
    29 July 2023 22: 45
    If I understand correctly, then a digital ruble is a paperless banknote number of any denomination. After all, each paper banknote has its own individual number, but now these numbers are not taken into account in calculations (transfers, payments), but only the face value is taken into account, and it is very, very difficult to track the paper banknote numbers, but the digital ruble is easy ...
  10. Anadyrean
    Anadyrean
    -3
    29 July 2023 23: 08
    An attempt to stop cutting public money with the ability to trace. In fact, the construction of a new way of money movement under the full control of the state. No "pads."
  11. hlp5118
    hlp5118
    +1
    30 July 2023 06: 35
    All this is like the songs of the Sirens that sing to desperate sailors. But, something is already confusing. There is no % for deposits, which means, contrary to the laws of the economy, you can roll other people's money for nothing. And nothing is said about loans, they will also be given without%??!! And commercial structures will cash out grandmas at their own% (ha ha). And most importantly, you can manage money and the behavior of citizens as you like. It looks like a world conspiracy of moneybags.
  12. Obstacle
    Obstacle
    -1
    30 July 2023 06: 52
    Without spreading my thoughts along the tree, I’ll just assume that the aforementioned ruble is just a brick to building an economy and management through AI. (IMHO, of course)
  13. Andrey Andreev_2
    Andrey Andreev_2
    +5
    30 July 2023 10: 31
    I don’t believe Nabiulina, as an agent of the FRS and the IMF ... She is to blame for the fact that with one hand we are at war with the West, and with the other we are sponsoring the West for war with us (((
  14. Shelest2000
    Shelest2000
    +1
    30 July 2023 16: 17
    Office of Elvira Nabiullina praises innovation and urges not to be afraid of change

    Hmm ... As a rule, everything that the Kremlin praises, people close to it and, in particular, citizen Naibulin - everything turns into another problem for citizens.
    I recalled Yulia Tseplyaeva, director of the Center for Macroeconomic Research at Sberbank, with her wonderful phrase in January, "I feel very sorry for people who buy dollars at 35 rubles! They will simply lose their money!"
    In September-October, it already cost 45-47, in November it was under 50, in December it was over 70, and at times it soared under a hundred.
    Incl. believe her - do not respect yourself.
  15. Monax
    Monax
    +2
    30 July 2023 21: 20
    Do not trust the Danes who bring gifts. (Homer "Troy")
  16. nikanikolich
    nikanikolich
    0
    3 August 2023 19: 13
    Crap born in the head of a woman. There is a desire to control the expenses of the "husband" - eureka, digital ruble. The main thing is that the "husband" expressed a desire to be digitized