Georgia will test launch a national cryptocurrency this year

According to an official representative of the National Bank of Georgia, the bank and its partners will formulate final proposals for the issuance of the digital lari in the first half of 2023.

Speaking on Rustavi 2 TV channel, Vice President of the National Bank of Georgia Papuna Lezhava told the audience that the Central Bank is preparing to publish the final version of the document on the digital lari. He stated that a pilot project will be launched in the first half of 2023, in which all potential partners of the bank will be able to participate, and its results will become the basis for further research by CBDC.

«We have chosen several options for testing the digital lari. At the first stage, it will be a limited pilot version aimed at evaluating the technical characteristics of the digital lari.

Based on the test results, the Central Bank will decide whether to continue or terminate the project. In the first half of 2023, we will publish the final document, and then, together with the winning partner, we will discuss the project, and it will take some time to implement it [не пілотну] ," Lezhava said.

Earlier, Koba Gvenetadze, President of the National Bank of Georgia, said that the regulator does not have a single approach to digital currencies, and the feasibility of introducing and the possibilities of a state cryptocurrency are still being studied by experts.

Earlier, it was reported that the Stellar blockchain will be used by Ukrainian banks.