Russia’s first mandatory stage of its central bank digital currency rollout begins on September 1, 2026, with major telecom operators and e-commerce platforms enabling digital ruble payments while Moscow maintains its ban on using private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for domestic settlements.
According to Vedomosti, MTS, Rostelecom and MegaFon have confirmed they are preparing to accept the digital ruble from launch day. MTS will integrate the payment option through its existing MTS Pay module, making it available in the My MTS mobile app, the company’s online store and other services using MTS Pay. Customers will select the digital ruble at checkout, choose a participating bank and approve the transaction through the bank’s app, similar to Russia’s Faster Payments System.
Rostelecom is finalizing technical work with an unnamed large Russian bank and will initially support one-time payments on its official website, with recurring billing and automatic top-ups to follow as the Bank of Russia’s platform gains technical capability. MegaFon is also preparing the digital ruble as an additional payment option. VimpelCom, which operates the Beeline brand, declined to comment.
The two largest online marketplaces, Wildberries and Ozon, have also said they will begin accepting digital rubles on September 1. Ozon will start in a testing mode alongside existing payment methods, while Wildberries says its implementation follows central bank requirements.
The launch corresponds to a legal deadline under rules adopted in July 2025. From September 1, 2026, merchants with annual revenue above 120 million rubles must support digital ruble payments if they meet banking conditions. The requirement expands to businesses with revenue above 30 million rubles in September 2027 and to other merchants with at least 20 million rubles by September 2028. Russia’s 12 systemically important banks, including Sberbank, VTB, T-Bank and Alfa-Bank, are also required to provide customer access from launch. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said technological preparations were ready.
The digital ruble is issued by the Bank of Russia and represents a third form of the national currency alongside cash and non-cash rubles. Individuals will access it through participating banking apps and are not required to open an account. For consumers, digital ruble transfers and payments carry no platform fee under the central bank’s tariff structure. Businesses receive a zero tariff through the end of 2026, after which a 0.3% charge capped at 1,500 rubles per customer-to-business transfer is scheduled from January 1, 2027. The Bank of Russia has set a monthly funding limit of 300,000 rubles per individual from personal bank accounts into a digital ruble account.
Russia began piloting the digital ruble in August 2023 and has gradually expanded participants and transaction types. The phased rollout follows bank concerns that connecting to the CBDC platform could cost smaller institutions between 120 million and more than 200 million rubles, as new core systems, compliance software and other technology are required.
At the same time, Moscow is keeping private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins prohibited as ordinary domestic payment instruments. Russia’s crypto framework allows regulated investment activity and certain cross-border transactions but not direct spending of Bitcoin or other decentralized tokens. In a June consultation paper, the Bank of Russia proposed maintaining the ban on using stablecoins and similar digital financial assets for domestic settlements. The Bank for International Settlements has separately warned that widely used stablecoins could contribute to “stablecoin dollarisation” in developing economies.
Public adoption remains uncertain. A VTsIOM survey from June 2025 found that 51% of Russian adults did not want to try the digital ruble, while 35% did. A SuperJob poll from December 2025 to January 2026 found 67% opposed receiving salaries in digital rubles, with only 10% willing to accept their entire salary in the new form.
