Russia sets deadline for large-scale adoption of digital ruble by large banks and retailers

According to Bitcoin.com, the Russian central bank has submitted a phased plan to promote the digital ruble to the State Duma, requiring banks and merchants to gradually implement mandatory access from September 1, 2026. Large retailers with annual revenue exceeding $19000 are required to support digital ruble payments first, expand to merchants with annual revenue of over 300000 rubles by September 2027, and achieve full coverage by September 2028 (excluding small and micro enterprises with annual revenue below 5 million rubles). The digital ruble was originally scheduled to be launched in July 2025, but was postponed until mid-2026 due to technical debugging and bank negotiations. The system will adopt the unified QR code scheme developed by the national payment card system, and the central bank emphasizes that the timetable has been fully negotiated with various ministries and industries.