Turkey to launch state cryptocurrency in 2023

The Central Bank of Turkey (TCMB) plans to launch a state-owned cryptocurrency in 2023, according to the annual plan of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented by the Turkish Strategy and Budget Office.

According to TCMB representatives, the digital lira will be integrated with the FAST identification and payment system. The CBDC will be developed, researched, and tested by the Central Bank in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Scientific and Technical Research Institute of Turkey.

The Turkish government discussed the possibility of issuing CBDCs last year in September. At that time, it was assumed that the national cryptocurrency would complement the existing payment infrastructure and help the country fight the crisis. Thus, in July, the inflation rate in Turkey reached its highest level in 24 years and amounted to more than 78% for the year. That is why the country’s citizens have begun to actively invest their savings in cryptocurrencies, hoping to protect their financial situation.

In early August, Albanian law enforcement agencies detained the largest Turkish cryptocurrency criminal, the founder of the fake Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, Faruk Fatih Özer. The fraudster fled Turkey in March, taking $ 2 billion in client funds with him. Before the freezing of the company’s accounts, more than 400,000 customers used the exchange’s services, and daily sales exceeded half a billion dollars. In April, it became known that the Turkish prosecutor demanded that the court imprison 21 members of the Thodex team and its founder for a total of 40 thousand years.