The Bank of Russia has announced plans to connect all Russian banks to the digital ruble in 2024, as it fast-tracks plans to circumvent sanctions. 

Cross-border integration with the digital yuan and the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) of other “friendly” countries” will remove the need for Swift, a central bank official said. 

As well as “gradually connecting all credit organisations”, the Bank of Russia will increase the number of “payment options and transactions using smart