18 January 2023
While Turkey is carrying out work for its own central bank digital currency (CBDC Turkey), the first experiments have proved successful.
Turkey moves forward on its CBDC Turkey projects
Like many countries around the world, Turkey is working on its own central bank digital currency (CBDC Turkey). In this regard, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (BCRT) yesterday issued a statement to inform about the progress of the work. She thus indicated that as part of her experiments, the first transactions with the digital Turkish lira had been a success.
If few details have been revealed as to the purpose of this work, it should continue in 2023 on a larger scale:
“In 2023, BCRT will expand the Turkish Lira Collaborative Platform to involve selected banks and FinTechs, and unveil advanced phases of the pilot study that will further broaden participation. »
The BCRT estimates that the next major challenges of the project will relate in particular to the “ legal and economic framework ” as well as “ digital identification ”.
A digital currency still at the prototype stage
In view of the information provided, this work therefore focuses more on a wholesale CBDC Turkey, i.e. a currency that involves payments between institutional players.
In addition, no precise date of circulation is indicated, because these experiments are only in their infancy, like many central banks around the world. Thus, it is still too early to say whether the final version of this Turkish digital lira will be based, for example, on a blockchain, or any other type of distributed ledger.
As part of the development of this CBDC Turkey, the BCRT had concluded an agreement last year with the companies specializing in defence, information technology and communication systems HAVELSAN and ASELSAN, as well as the research center TÜBİTAK.
As for the currency as such, the Turkish lira is still suffering head-on inflation, with a rate of 85% last November, unheard of in nearly 25 years.