Kazakhstan is the latest country to join the CBDC conversation. The country is presently speculating whether to launch a CBDC by the end of 2022 or not. The National Bank of Kazakhstan has already made progress in this regard, with testing programs doing it their way. The governor of the national bank, Erbolat Dossayev, has said that the bank will produce a detailed report following the trial phase. After the reports are studied and analyzed, the government will take a final decision about CBDCs in the country.
Kazakhstan is a very important country for cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. It is one of the biggest contributors to Bitcoin hash rates and houses the 2nd highest number of miners in the world. At the same time, illegal Bitcoin mining has been a prevalent problem in the country after the China ban on cryptocurrencies. In the past, the government had carried out operations to weed out illegal crypto miners.
If Kazakhstan comes up with its own CBDC, the country might opt to give less favor to Bitcoin miners and exchanges. A CBDC, unlike cryptocurrencies, will be regulated by the government. That will give them much more autonomy as well as regulatory clarity. Many countries are rolling out their CBDCs now. From Switzerland to Russia to Peru, CBDC projects are at various stages in different countries. CBDCs have huge potential to transform the way we transact, especially in cross-border payments. Kazakhstan rolling out its own CBDC will be a definitive moment for the country’s economy.
