After two months of mass implementation in Russia, the number of wallets on the digital ruble platform amounted to a little more than 300 thousand. As of November 1, almost 290 thousand citizens and a little less than 16 thousand legal entities opened accounts in the third form of the national currency, the press service of the Bank of Russia reported. A total of 235,000 transactions were made on the platform in the first two months of autumn. Hence, there is less than one transaction per wallet opening.
"Most of the transactions with digital ruble (in terms of quantity) are related to renewing accounts. No less popular are payments for goods and services, as well as transfers between citizens," the central bank emphasized.
The regulator added that Russians also pay taxes using digital rubles.
Izvestia sent a request to the largest Russian credit institutions about the popularity of the digital ruble among their customers.
Analysts interviewed by Izvestia agree that the official figure of 306,000 accounts looks impressive only against the background of the regulator's own conservative plans.
"The central bank expected 60,000 wallets by the end of the year, which means five times more have already been opened. But in absolute terms, this is about 0.25% of the adult population, and in terms of dynamics, I would still talk about curiosity," said Garda Capital investment strategist Alexander Bakhtin.
He cited data: in September, people opened 7,000 wallets a day, and in October - about 3,000, that is, the momentum has decreased significantly. According to the data of the central bank, the transactions in September were about 150 thousand, within two months - 235 thousand. That is, in October - less than 100 thousand. Less than one transaction per wallet and the dominance of add-ons is classic behavior of a user who opened an account, tested the service and returned to the regular bank card or the fast payment system, the expert stated.
For ordinary Russians, the benefits of the digital ruble are still unclear. However, in this form of currency, people can transfer any amount to each other without commission, while the same SBP has a limit of ₽100 thousand on transfers without commission.