The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) has decided to test BNB Chain, the blockchain network, for integration into the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project. The country’s central bank has been developing its CBDC called Digital Tenge since May 2021.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the company behind the chain, announced the development via Twitter. The team, according to his tweet, met with the first deputy governor of NKB, Berik Sholpankulov, and the head of the Payments and Technology Center, Binur Zhalenov, to discuss the testing and integration.
Quick story about the #Binance team relentlessly pushing crypto adoption globally.
2 weeks ago Binance got a license in Kazakhstan. But we didn't stop there. (1/4)
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) October 26, 2022
The bank has been looking to see how CBDCs can help bridge the gap between traditional banking and the crypto ecosystem for some time now. It launched the Digital Tenge pilot project with a preliminary license in May 2021. Binance has since been working with the Kazakhstan government and regulators to help drive crypto adoption in the country. A permanent license from the AIFC Financial Services Authority (AFSA) was given to Binance on 6 October 2022.
In July this year, the central bank developed a decision-making model for its implementation. The final call on implementation will be taken by the end of this year.
Earlier, the central bank had explained that it hoped that the use of CBDCs would help in furthering financial inclusion. CBDCs were also meant to serve as an extra tool for financial market participants and government agencies creating innovative services based on smart contract technology. The bank aims to use Digital Tende in cross-border payments too.
Earlier this month, Binance even signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kazakhstan Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic to help expand its global law enforcement training program.
The country’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, also recently underlined the nation’s aim of becoming a leader in the crypto industry.
