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Russia is one of the countries that are forging ahead with its central bank digital currency development. However, a recent study revealed that Russians might not yet be ready to use the CBDC with four out of 10 respondents saying that they are opposed to being paid in the digital ruble.
The results of a recent survey revealed that 41 percent were “categorically opposed” to receiving their salaries in the Bank of Russian’s CBDC, also known as the digital ruble, according to Cointelegraph. The study was conducted by the local recruitment site HeadHunter and involved 3,000 respondents.
While almost half of the respondents expressed opposition to the idea of receiving their salaries in the digital ruble, a minority expressed support for the payment option. The survey revealed that 11 percent said that they were ready to receive digital ruble for the salaries.
Meanwhile, the remaining 48 percent of the respondent said that they were unsure if they want to be paid in the central bank digital currency.
Of those who said that they are ready to receive their salaries in the digital ruble, half of the group said they are agreeable to receiving the entirety of their salaries in the upcoming CBDC. The other half prefer to receive not more than 50 percent of their salaries in the digital ruble.
In March, the Russian central bank revealed that it is planning to start pilots for its CBDC by 2022. The bank expects to complete a prototype digital ruble by the end of this year, according to Bank of Russia deputy governor Alexey Zabotkin.
“Based on this prototype, including refinement, we will start rolling out trial rounds next year,” Zabotkin said. However, he clarified that the digital ruble prototype will not support “real transactions” but will serve as a starting point to build on.
The central bank announced its plans for a digital ruble in October 2020 where the possibility of paying salaries with the CBDC was already mentioned. “Citizens and businesses will be able to purchase digital rubles by exchanging them for cash or funds stored in their bank accounts,” the Bank of Russia said. “The possibility of receiving salaries, benefits, or other payments in digital rubles is also being considered.”
