Kazakhstan’s Digital Tenge CBDC Pilot Declared a Success

Kazakhstan’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital tenge, has been declared a success following a month-long pilot project. The digital tenge was used for various transactions, including providing schoolchildren with free lunches in Almaty. Plastic cards issued by local banks, in collaboration with Visa and Mastercard, allowed users to make purchases in person or online and withdraw cash from ATMs. The pilot project involved merchant transactions with the option to accept digital tenge or convert them to “non-cash” tenge. The digital tenge is set for further improvements in 2024. (Source: Cointelegraph)