Russian Analyst: Digital Ruble ‘Brings No Benefits’ for Ordinary Citizens
A Russian analyst has claimed that the digital ruble, the nation’s CBDC, will bring no benefits to ordinary citizens.
The comments were made by Anastasia Tselykh, a special correspondent at RTVI in her most recent column for the media outlet.
The Central Bank launched a pilot this week, which will see retailers in 11 cities join, along with the Moscow Metro network and over a dozen banks.
The analyst pulled no punches in her commentary on the token, calling it the “first step toward a digital gulag.”
Tselykh explained:
“[The CBDC] is of benefit to the Central Bank, because it gives the bank the ability to track happens to citizens’ money without needing to make any separate requests to financial organizations.”
She wrote:
“There is no great benefit for ordinary citizens from the digital ruble.”
And Tselykh was wary of comments made by the Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, who has said that no one will be “forced” to use the digital ruble.”
The analyst noted:
“The example of China, which launched its digital yuan pilot in 2015, shows that after some time, large companies begin to pay employees’ salaries [using the CBDC]. It is quite possible that in time this will happen in Russia as well. For instance, state employees and employees at large companies could receive their salaries in this manner.”
But Tselykh did concede that the digital ruble may convey some advantages, explaining:
“One [benefit for ordinary citizens], perhaps, is the possibility of using the token to pay offline. But the technical capabilities to do this not exist yet.”
The Central Bank has announced that it wants to create prepaid hard wallet-type cards or devices that can be topped up with CBDC funds in advance.
These prepaid cards or devices could be then
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