The Digital Ruble in the Russians’ Estimates: Expectations and Worries

Abstract

The article examines the results of researches on the perception of the digital ruble by the Russian population taking into account the level of awareness, age and gender differences as well as the structure of discussions on public platforms. The low level of understanding by the Russians an essence of the new form of the ruble has been revealed. Young people perceive it through the prism of innovation, while not always differentiate institutional features, representatives of middle age groups assume digital money as a kind of non-cash means, the older generation demonstrates the distrust with it and the misunderstanding of their usage modes. Among the positive aspects of the digital ruble introduction, the author notes the following: security, conven-ience of payments, and the availability of state control. As far as disadvantages are concerned, we have to stress insufficient security and reliability, government tracking, and dependence on the Internet. Two opposing vectors prevail in the public space: in one respect, the convenience of payments, transparency, and speed of transactions are emphasized, and on the contrary, an alarming agenda focusing on a possible coercion or sur-veillance dominates. The effectiveness of integrating the digital ruble into the daily practices of the Russians will depend on the public’s awareness of the new instrument advantages and the availability of an appropriate level of financial literacy.