After China and the United States, Kazakhstan is the third-largest Bitcoin mining region in the world. Kazakhstan found it feasible to introduce a digital tenge as its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). After the second phase of testing was finished, the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) announced the results, as reported by Cointelegraph.
According to Cointelegraph, Kazakhstan’s CBDC will be integrated with BNB Chain, a blockchain that the cryptocurrency exchange has built, according to Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, who made the announcement in late October. The main reason the nation conducted research on CBDC was to see if it could increase financial inclusion, encourage competition and innovation in the payments sector, and boost the country’s global competitiveness.
The pilot study on offline payments and programmability suggested that market participants and infrastructure players be included for various scenarios and suggested clarifying language for the government’s regulators to use. The most recent academic study confirmed Kazakhstan’s intention to introduce the digital tenge. The report’s rough translation is as follows, “Taking into account the need for technological improvements, infrastructure preparation, development of an operating model and a regulatory framework, it is recommended to ensure a phased implementation over three years.”
In the midst of war-related uncertainty, many Russians crossed into the neighbouring countries, and Kazakhstan declared that it would legalise a system for turning cryptocurrencies into cash, Cointelegraph further noted.
(With insights from Cointelegraph)