The Russian central bank recently shared its business model for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). All digital ruble transactions will be free by the end of 2025, with the first banks and merchants expected to go live on July 1. The central bank plans to earn fees by operating the system. Meanwhile, at a hearing in the Russian State Duma last week, the Association of Russian Banks (ABR) said that banks are unhappy about this. They are concerned about the possible outflow of bank deposits and the high cost of deployment. It is reported that the Russian Central Bank does not intend to limit the holding of CBDCs. According to Info24, ABR chairperson Anatoly Kozlachkov said that the cost of setting up each bank is about 100 million rubles (1 million dollars), while some banks have only 3 million dollars in capital.