Testing of the digital ruble on real transactions and customers will begin in April 2023. The first vice-president of the regulator, Olga Skorobogatova, said that the sanctions against the Russian banking system caused the acceleration of the pilot of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Forbes writes about it.

Initially, testing of the digital asset during real operations was scheduled to begin in 2024.

Skorobogatova also said that during the pilot project, the Central Bank will use smart contracts from April 2024.

Earlier, the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, reported that the first real calculations will begin next year as part of the piloting of the digital ruble.

Also, the central bank mentioned the impossibility of using cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions, especially in terms of large payments.