Russia’s central bank weighs CBDC launch delay to mid-2026 over migration issues: report

The Russian Bank would have pushed the launch of the digital ruble in mid-2026 while banks are faced with obstacles by migrating foreign software in the midst of sanctions.

RussiaThe central bank, the Russian bank, plans to delay the full launch of its Central Bank digital cure – Known as the digital ruble – until mid -2010, because the banks expected to support it are faced with technical migration challenges, according to a frank media report Citing anonymous bank executives.

The Russian Bank had initially planned to deploy the CBDC for mass use by July this year, but then decided to postpone the date. The head of the central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said in February that the launch would take place on a later date but did not specify when the reason for the delay.

From now on, sources indicate that one of the reasons for banks to pass foreign database solutions, because everyone has not successfully migrated to Oracle, database management systems, which banks use to store and manage large amounts of data.

Another banking manager mentioned the concerns about technical security and the operation of the digital ruble system during power outages. Despite the delay, officials claim that the pilot program is still on the right track.

An official of the Central Bank declared during a Russian economic forum at the beginning of April that the functionality of the platform worked as planned and that there had been no major problem so far. They also mentioned that the number of pilot participants has increased, individual users from 500 to 2,000 and companies from 30 to 50.