⚠️ HRF CBDC ⛓️🪙 alert from HRF for Kazakhstan (29-JAN-2024)

🗝️ℹ️ (Key Information)

CBDC Status: Launched

CBDC Launch: 2023-11-15

CBDC Model: n/a

CBDC Issued: n/a

Inflation Rate: 8.04%

One-Sentence Summary:

🇰🇿 has entered the launch phase of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), called the digital tenge, sparking both excitement for technological innovation and concern over human rights and civil liberties impacts.

✅ On November 15, 2023, Binur Zhalenov, chairman of the National Payment Corporation of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, initiated the first transaction using the digital tenge, the official CBDC of 🇰🇿.

✅ With the collaboration of Mastercard and Visa, the CBDC can be accessible by consumers via a payment card to be used at retail outlets, online stores and various websites. The expansion plan for the CBDC includes connecting more banks to its platform in 2024.

✅ The National Bank has been researching a CBDC since 2021, initiating the first pilot project in June 2021. Studies to understand the economic and regulatory implications of a CBDC were also carried out, with support from international entities.

✅ The CBDC issuance framework raised key questions about necessity, benefits, and risks related to establishing a CBDC in 🇰🇿.

✅ Focus on financial inclusion, competition, and innovation in the payments industry pushed the development of a CBDC, followed by its strategic phased introduction as planned over three years.

✅ The bank worked with Binance in February 2023 to understand protection of privacy and financial stability, outlining 14 potential cybersecurity threats to its CBDC platform.

✅ A pilot testing CBDC bank cards linked to digital tenge accounts conducted with payment providers and local banks found the cards to be interoperable with other payment options and suggested the use of a CBDC system for school lunch vouchers.

✅ However, concerns over civil liberties and human rights linked with the use of a CBDC have been raised due to the persisting restrictive political environment in 🇰🇿.

Hashtags: #CentralBankDigitalCurrency #DigitalTenge #KazakhstanCBDC #HumanRightsConcerns #CivilLiberties

Question: "Given the innovative technological strides, how can we balance the benefits brought by CBDCs with the potential risks to civil liberties and human rights, particularly in countries with restrictive political environments like 🇰🇿?"

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