30% of Russian Banks Averse to Adopting CBDC: Survey
Adoption of Russia’s CBDC, or digital ruble, is being drastically hindered, a recent survey has revealed, with nearly 30% of the country’s banks being unwilling to embrace it.
The survey, conducted by Flant and Diasoft from over 150 banking IT professionals, cites major infrastructure shortcomings, security concerns, and unwillingness from the financial institutions.
Even though the digital ruble initially was supposed to be rolled out in broad implementation by July 2025, increasing technical and strategic challenges have held it back, with the Bank of Russia now reconsidering the timing of the roll-out.
Technical Issues and Security Issues Push Adoption Back
Among the biggest challenges Russian banks are currently facing is the state of their IT infrastructure.
The survey showed that only 20% of banking sector IT professionals are sure that their systems, business processes, and internal regulations are entirely ready to support the digital ruble. Another 50% of respondents said they were partly prepared.
One of the biggest concerns is scalability of IT infrastructure to handle the increased transaction load of transactions done using digital ruble. Processing huge volumes of data at high speeds needs a robust infrastructure overhaul, which has not been undertaken by most banks yet.
Secondly, 14% of the respondents said they had cybersecurity issues, pointing towards additional security protocols to protect against expected cyber attacks.
In addition to technical issues, banks also face regulatory and operational challenges. To operate the digital ruble without hiccups, financial institutions will have to integrate their IT systems with Russia’s centralized banking system. This would require considerable financial outlay and prolonged testing and coordination among all the parties involved.
Resistance of Banks and Postponement of the Rollout
Even though the Bank of Russia is aggressively promoting the digital ruble, certain financial institutions are not ready to wholeheartedly adopt the program.
The reason for the reluctance is the fear of losing control over customers’ finances and being subject to tighter transparency regulations. Since the Central Bank would control the digital ruble directly, commercial banks would essentially become intermediaries and not independent entities controlling digital assets, which would influence profitability and income.
They also have resistance from small and medium-sized banks that lack the funds to upgrade their IT. These banks were largely not constructed with the capacity to handle digital assets, focusing instead on lending and transactional businesses.
The 30% of banks that are not prepared for the digital ruble, the report says, are likely small players who have not prioritized digital transformation.
The Bank of Russia initially assigned July 2025 for systemically important banks to integrate the digital ruble into their systems. In February 2024, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said this deadline would be delayed.
Though the pilot scheme, with 15 major banks and 1,700 clients, has proceeded well, regulators have chosen to take a more conservative path prior to launching on a wider basis.
No new launch date has been set, and there are rumors that the pilot phase can be extended to ensure that all potential risks and challenges are dealt with.
Russia Embraces Crypto But Struggles with Digital Ruble
While CBDCs face resistance, adoption of crypto continues to grow in Russia.
A recent research shows that Russia has increasingly depended on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and stablecoins like Tether (USDT) to facilitate oil transactions with India and China, thereby allowing it to bypass Western sanctions.
While Moscow has openly promoted foreign trade in digital assets, the use of its application in exporting oil has not been widely covered. The method enables Russian companies to circumvent the U.S. dollar-based financial system through the exchange of Chinese yuan and Indian rupees into crypto that is then swapped for rubles.
Though these transactions represent a small fraction of Russia’s $192 billion oil industry, they are becoming increasingly popular as a way to bypass the conventional banking system, which has been tightened by financial sanctions.
As Russia goes digital, success for the digital ruble will depend on the ability of banks to maintain their IT infrastructure current while remaining profitable.
The Central Bank continues to face opposition from small banks, so it is unclear whether the digital ruble will be widely adopted.
