Kazakhstan to launch digital currency by 2025

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has published a report on the implementation of the “Digital Tenge” project. The report states that the digital tenge will be introduced in three stages by the end of 2025, Turanews.kz reports citing the press service of National Bank of Kazakhstan.

The first stage, which will be implemented in 2023, will involve the development of basic scenarios for using the digital tenge as a means of payment. The second stage will involve testing cross-border settlements in digital currencies of central banks, interaction with participants in the digital asset market, and other innovative use cases.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has emphasized that the digital tenge is not intended to replace existing payment methods, but to be used in parallel with them. The regulator believes that the launch of the digital tenge will increase the availability of financial services, improve the efficiency of government spending, and create opportunities for the development of new financial products.

In Russia, the development of the digital ruble began in 2020. In August of this year, a law was introduced on its implementation as a third form of national currency on a par with cash and non-cash ones. The key difference between the digital ruble and other forms of currency is that it will be stored on the Central Bank platform, which citizens can access for free through the usual mobile application of any bank where they are clients.

The Bank of Russia began the first real operations with the digital ruble on August 15 in 11 cities. About 600 citizens and 30 retail outlets will participate in the pilot, but the regulator plans to soon expand the number of participants. At the first stage, the opening of digital wallets for banks and their clients – citizens and companies, transfers between clients, and payment at retail outlets using a QR code will be tested.