The digital tenge, Kazakhstan’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), has successfully completed a month-long pilot project. The pilot run involved various initiatives, including providing schoolchildren with free lunches in Almaty using the local Onay! card, originally designed for the transit system. The Kazpost postal system operator facilitated these transactions.
During the pilot, plastic cards were issued to focus groups by four local banks in collaboration with Visa and Mastercard. These cards allowed users to make purchases in person or online, as well as withdraw cash from ATMs. Merchants had the option to accept digital tenge or convert them to “non-cash” tenge, integrating them into existing point-of-sale and QR systems. This level of interoperability was claimed to be a first for a CBDC.
Other experiments conducted with the digital tenge included making cross-border payments via SWIFT, issuing CBDC-backed stablecoins on Binance and KASE platforms, tokenizing gold, collecting value-added tax using a smart contract, and trialing a move-to-earn app.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan and the National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan (NPCK) have set ambitious goals for 2024. These goals include increasing the number of intermediary banks, developing decentralized finance applications, enabling offline transactions at scale to enhance financial inclusion in regions with limited internet connectivity, and expanding participation in cross-border payment projects. Regulatory and legislative goals are also on the agenda, along with efforts to enhance digital tenge security and processing speed.
NPCK CEO Binur Zhalenov emphasized in an interview that the digital tenge would not be utilized for user surveillance.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | Asia |
| Countries | 🇰🇿 |
| Sentiment | very positive |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Binur Zhalenov, Selim Ergoz, Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Arn Vogels |
| Companies | KASE, Binance, Visa, Kazpost, Mastercard |
| Currencies | None |
| Securities | None |
