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Kazakhstan is ready to introduce digital tenge in 2013
Kazakhstan has successfully tested a digital tenge platform, so the use of the national cryptocurrency may begin at the end of 2023, according to the head of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Galymzhan Pirmatov.
«As part of the pilot project, real consumers and trade and service companies were able to carry out more than 3.5 thousand transactions with digital tenge. According to the results of a public opinion poll, more than 60% of respondents are ready to use the national cryptocurrency,» Pirmatov said. «In case of a positive decision in the fourth quarter of 2023, we will propose the use of digital tenge for public procurement and social payments.»
Kazakhstan first introduced a pilot project of the digital tenge in May 2022. The country’s National Bank planned to introduce a digital currency that would be an «additional form of money» only. The regulator also claimed that the digital tenge technology would meet the highest cybersecurity standards.
In recent years, Kazakhstan has taken many initiatives aimed at regulating and developing the digital financial system. In particular, new taxes on cryptocurrencies have been introduced, as well as restrictions on energy consumption for miners. The government also plans to introduce a ban on advertising of cryptocurrency transactions.
As a reminder, in early October, Kazakhstan allowed legal operations with cryptocurrencies, making it the fourth country in the post-Soviet space (after Ukraine, Estonia, and Belarus) to officially legalize operations with digital assets. At the end of the month, it became known that the government Binance/">will test the digital tenge on the BNB Chain blockchain owned by Binance. The license to operate in Kazakhstan grants Binance the status of a regulated platform and authorizes the company to offer customers services for trading digital assets, making deposits and withdrawals in fiat currency. Binance also received the President’s permission to develop the virtual asset market in Kazakhstan.