Moscow Greenlights Digital Ruble for Budget Payments – Russia’s CBDC Takes Major Step Toward Mass Adoption

Moscow just cut the red tape. The city's government has officially approved the use of its digital ruble for budget payments, moving its central bank digital currency (CBDC) from pilot phase to practical utility.

From Sandbox to City Services

This isn't a test in a controlled lab. It's a direct integration into the municipal financial system. Think local taxes, utility bills, and fines—all potentially payable with a digital wallet instead of a bank transfer. The move bypasses traditional banking rails entirely, aiming for faster, cheaper, and more transparent transactions for citizens and the state.

The Geopolitical Ledger

While pitched as a domestic efficiency play, the timing speaks volumes. The digital ruble project accelerates as Russia seeks financial sovereignty, creating a state-controlled payment channel that operates outside the SWIFT system. It's a long-term hedge against sanctions, wrapped in the language of technological progress.

What It Means for the Ruble—Digital and Otherwise

For everyday Muscovites, it promises convenience. For the Kremlin, it's about control—over monetary policy, capital flows, and economic data. A fully traceable state currency makes tax collection seamless and monetary policy direct, though it raises familiar questions about privacy in the digital age.

The rollout will be gradual, but the signal is clear: Russia is betting big on its digital future. One cynical finance veteran might note that creating a trackable state currency is the ultimate dream of every tax authority—finally, a ledger even they can't argue with.

Russian government to spend digital rubles on payroll and repairs

The Cabinet of Ministers in Moscow has adopted a list of expenditures that can be covered using the Bank of Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Budget payments with the new incarnation of the national fiat can now commence by the end of the year, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Friday.

Items on the list include social security transfers, salaries, and other payments in the public sector, as well as funding for capital construction, repair, and maintenance of state-owned facilities.

The report quoted a notice published on the website of the Ministry of Finance:

“The Russian government has approved a list of budget expenditures for which the digital ruble may be used as early as 2025.”

The department remarked that such payments will be made exclusively at the request of their recipients. “Only the citizen themselves can open a digital ruble account,” the Minfin statement clarifies.

The list has been drafted in accordance with the law “On Amendments to the Budget Code of the Russian Federation,” which entered into force earlier this year.

It provides the legal basis for the execution of the federal budget using the digital ruble account of the Federal Treasury, the Minfin explained.

The Treasury of the Russian Federation is an executive body overseeing the spending of budget money by different administrators and recipients of government-allocated funds.

It was established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, initially as a structure within the Russian finance ministry, and later transformed into a separate agency subordinated to the Minfin.

At the end of November, the Treasury announced it’s officially starting to accept revenues in the CBDC from January 1, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

“This year, the first payments in the digital ruble were also made,” its head, Roman Artyukhin, reminded during a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Digital ruble payments gaining traction ahead of 2026 launch

The Ministry of Finance emphasized it’s working closely with the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) on the integration of the digital ruble into the budget process.

It confirmed that institutions and other organizations will be able to use the CBDC to transfer funds to and from various budgets from the beginning of next year.

The digital ruble, which is the third FORM of the national currency after cash and electronic “bank” money, has been under development for quite a few years. A pilot project, which is expanding now, was launched in 2023.

Following a call from President Vladimir Putin earlier this year for mass adoption of the sovereign coin, the CBR published a schedule for its gradual introduction for public use. This will be done in several stages, with the first one set to begin on September 1, 2026.

In late November, the monetary authority unveiled that transfers between individual wallets will be free of charge while payments to businesses will carry the lowest fees on the market – 0.3% for commercial transactions and 0.2% for payments covering housing and utility bills.

The Russian digital currency will also be integrated into existing banking apps, the regulator announced in December. This aims to keep transaction costs low as developing a dedicated application WOULD be more expensive.

Sharpen your strategy with mentorship + daily ideas - 30 days free access to our trading program