Russia records its first digital ruble salary - Coinfea

Russia has paid its first digital ruble salary, an indication that the government prefers to do so upon request. The news comes almost a year after the planned launch of Russia’s coin for public use, which is set to be carried out in stages, beginning next year.

ContentsRussia pays salaries in digital rublesDigital ruble set for debut in 2026The recent development was announced by the Ministry of Finance. “The first budget payment in digital rubles has been successfully completed,” the department stated in a press release published on its website on Wednesday. “The Russian Treasury has made the first salary payment in digital rubles to an individual holding a government position in the Russian Federation.”

Russia pays salaries in digital rubles

According to the department, the experiment to introduce the sovereign coin into the budgetary process is being carried out jointly with the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), the issuer of the token. This means that starting from January 1, 2026, the Minfin and the CBR will enable transactions between digital ruble accounts, the ministry said.

As mentioned in the announcement, the digital variant of the national fiat will be used for intra-budgetary transfers and to make various payments from the federal budgets as well. The ministry added that payment in digital rubles will be made only at the request of the recipient. However, it failed to reveal the first person who asked for their wages in the CBDC.

Meanwhile, the media in Russia quickly did their findings and discovered that the first digital ruble salary was paid to Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Committee on Financial Markets at the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. Aksakov had been involved in legislative efforts to regulate digital financial assets in Russia and create the legal basis for the country’s own digital currency.

The lawmaker received the money in his wallet on the CBR’s dedicated platform and then joined the testing of the digital Russian ruble by making some payments, his press service mentioned. The deputy transferred funds to the Life Line foundation for children with illnesses and to the SOS Children’s Villages charity for orphans. He also used some of the CBDC to place an order at a Teremok restaurant, a fast food chain that offers native russian meals.

Digital ruble set for debut in 2026

The Bank of Russia began developing its CBDC in 2021. Two years later, the Russian parliament adopted the necessary legislation to introduce it. The CBR started trials later that same year, inviting a limited number of participants, including commercial banks, companies, and private individuals. The launch had been initially planned for 2025, but the monetary authority moved it to next year.

Following a call from President Vladimir Putin for its wide adoption this summer, the regulator scheduled it for September 1, 2026. The state-issued digital currency will be introduced in several stages. The dates were also approved by Russian lawmakers with a special law, which Putin signed in July. In June, the Moscow Metro, the subway system of the Russian capital, announced it had made its first digital ruble payment.

Last month, Russia registered the first real estate deal sealed using the government cryptocurrency, as reported by Cryptopolitan. This month, St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, Russia’s second busiest, accepted digital rubles from a visitor who paid for parking, using his smartphone to scan a QR code. The air transit hub plans to introduce the CBDC payment option for other services in the future.