On March 18, the Russian Central Bank has invited the Republic of Tatarstan to assist in testing the smart contract function of the digital ruble. The Ministry of Finance of Tatarstan has established a working group to conduct conditional targeted fund expenditure experiments using the central bank's test platform. The test is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025. A month earlier, the Russian central bank had "indefinitely postponed" the national rollout plan of the digital ruble originally scheduled for August this year, but this test shows that the digital ruble project is still in progress. Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said a new launch date will be announced later. At the same time, Moscow Metro also announced the expansion of its digital ruble pilot project, working with the central bank and VTB Bank to test the function of using digital rubles to top up Troika smart cards. These developments are similar to China's digital yuan pilot project, but Russia has previously said that one of the main functions of the digital ruble is to help Russian companies make cross-border transfers with other countries that use digital fiat currencies.