The financial systems of many countries are transitioning to a new development paradigm. Obsolete traditional payment models are being replaced by digital tools in the form of a wide variety of private cryptocurrencies. In such conditions, the main task of the state is to create a regulatory framework for legally recognized digital currencies. The research is devoted to identifying the specific features of the issuance and circulation of digital currencies of the central banks. Almost all states implementing the digital currency mechanism are undergoing the stage of pilot testing of these digital instruments in the absence of a single coordinated algorithm of actions. The author systematized the preliminary results of test projects for the issuance of foreign digital currency. Its specificity is revealed, and the prospects for the introduction of the digital ruble of the Bank of Russia are determined. This made it possible to develop the theoretical foundations and the conceptual and categorical apparatus of the currency system. The digital currency of the Bank of Russia has a high potential in the conditions of anti-Russian sanctions, but it is characterized by a fairly high level of risk in the process of establishing new financial mechanisms. The research results can be useful to experts and specialists of the financial and monetary system who carry out activities in the field of legislative regulation of the digital currency market, as well as state authorities implementing national projects of digital transformation of the Russian economy.