Kazakhstan to launch its own central digital currency in 2023

Kazakhstan, the third largest Bitcoin mining hub globally, has concluded that it is feasible to launch its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), known as the digital tenge.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) made this announcement after completing the second phase of testing.

The country’s primary motivation for conducting CBDC studies was to assess its potential for improving financial inclusion, promoting competition and innovation in the payments industry, and increasing the nation’s global competitiveness.

In addition, the pilot research, which focused on offline payments and programmability, recommended the inclusion of market participants and infrastructure players for different scenarios and proposed clarifying language to be used by the country’s regulators.

The latest research paper solidified Kazakhstan’s plans to roll out the digital tenge, with a recommendation to ensure a phased implementation over three years, with the CBDC becoming available as early as 2023 and fully operational by the end of 2025.