Russia’s central bank announced on Aug. 9 that it will initiate testing its digital ruble with banks, consumers, and businesses in mid-August.

Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, said:

“The launch of pilot operations with real digital rubles is the most important stage of the project. This will allow us to test the operation of the digital ruble platform …  and make sure that the client path is convenient and understandable for users.”

The central bank revealed that from Aug. 15, participants from 13 selected banks will commence spending and using the digital ruble at 30 designated locations across 11 cities.

During the pilot, users will be able to create accounts or wallets, make peer-to-peer transfers, perform auto payments, and make QR code …