Kazakhstan will continue looking into a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until 2025 at least, the central bank said in a report published Thursday.
The nation declared in December 2021 that it was testing a CBDC on the Corda platform of R3 and will decide whether to do so by the end of this year. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, announced the integration of Kazakhstan’s CBDC with Chain, a blockchain created by the cryptocurrency exchange, in late October. Tests on CBDC’s ability to boost financial inclusion, encourage competition and innovation in the payments sector, and boost national competitiveness abroad were the main reasons the country decided to conduct these research.
The pilot study on offline payments and programmability suggested that market participants and infrastructure actors be included for various situations and suggested clarifying wording for the government’s regulators to use. The most recent study confirmed the intention of Kazakhstan.
The bank said it has completed some phases of the trial, including refinement of the prototype and introduction for a limited number of participants. The government “will create options for launching into industrial operation” over the course of the following two years, and will collaborate with foreign central banks on cross-border and currency-exchange activities, according to the paper. More participants will be added by December 2025, and efforts will be made to link with non-bank mediators and offer offline capabilities.
“The unique advantages of the national digital currency relates to conducting a chain of transactions offline,” the report said.
More Countries Investing in CBDCs
Many nations claim they will issue a CBDC within the next ten years as they continue to advance their investigation of the concept. According to the Atlantic Council, a U.S.-based think organization that focuses on international problems, as many as 105 nations—representing 95% of the global GDP—are considering a CBDC. China is further along in its CBDC trials than most other nations, although Nigeria, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Eastern Caribbean have all issued CBDCs.
