Kazakhstan Officially Launches Digital Tenge
Kazakhstan’s National Payment Corporation (NPC) chairman, Binur Zhalenov, has made the first transaction with the country’s new central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital tenge.
He paid with a debit card tied to the CBDC account during a speech at the XI Congress of Finance in Almaty. Zhalenov announced the official launch of the digital tenge on Kazakhstan’s retail market, promising its development in 2024.
Kazakhstan collaborated with Visa, Mastercard, and local banks to integrate CBDC into plastic cards, allowing users to pay with a digital tenge from anywhere in the world using Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
Zhalenov highlighted the programmable potential of the digital tenge, which could be used in smart contracts, innovative financial services, and digital asset transactions. The CBDC development started in February 2023, with an initial launch deadline set for 2025.
(With inputs from Shikha Singh)
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