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The Central Bank of Russia plans to fully launch the central bank's digital currency project in 2023

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The bank plans to implement the digital ruble infrastructure by the end of 2021

Senior leaders of Russia's central bank shared key details about the country's plans to launch the central bank's digital currency (CBDC) on April 9, according to Blockbeats. According to Deputy Governor Alexei Zabotkin and First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova, the project will be fully operational by 2023, according to the current timetable.

Today's announcement builds on the Bank of Russia's plan to launch a digital ruble. As previously reported, the bank plans to implement a digital ruble infrastructure by the end of 2021 and test digital ruble prototypes by 2022. It now appears that the Central Bank of Russia's digital currency (CBDC) will become a reality within two years.

Zabotkin said the reduction in non-cash transactions is expected to offset the liquidity shortfall when the digital ruble is introduced. CBDCs will also have a two-tier system similar to China's digital yuan, in which the central bank distributes CBDCs to third parties such as commercial banks, who then distribute CBDCs to users.

Olga Skorobogatova, a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Russia, told the conference that 73 percent of transactions in Russia are already digital -- a shift from the cash-only world Russia was in just a few years ago.