A spokesperson for Binance said that Kazakhstan’s central bank had agreed to test BNB Chain as a digital currency. This development follows Binance’s recent Kazakhstan license.
According to the exchange giant, the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK), has agreed to test Binance’s blockchain network BNB Chain in order for it to be integrated into the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Binance met recently with two NBK officials — Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Binur Zhalenov, the head of the payment and technological center. Zhao said that the company presented the two officials to BNB Chain to discuss the testing of blockchain integration in digital currency.
When The Block reached out to Binance, a spokesperson for the company said that NBK and Binance had agreed to test NBK CBDC (digital tenge) integration on BNB Chain. There are ongoing discussions on the specific use cases that will be tested.” The request for comment from The Block was not immediately answered by the central bank.
In 2021, the NBK launched the digital tenge pilot program to examine the costs and benefits of digital currency implementation. The central bank created a decision-making framework for digital tenge implementation in July. It is expected that it will make its final decision by the end of this year.
The bank stated that the implementation of electronic money would increase financial inclusion. It also allowed for the introduction of offline payments.
The digital tenge infrastructure will be an additional tool for participants in the financial market and government agencies. This will allow them to develop innovative services using smart contract technology. Future introductions of digital tenge are expected to increase cross-border payments. “
Zhao tweeted that Binance is eager to see NBK prepare CBDC use cases, and how it could integrate BNB chain.
This development follows shortly after Binance was granted a Kazakhstani operating license. The Astana Financial Services Authority granted Binance permission to trade crypto and provide custody services at the Astana International Financial Center in August. Binance signed earlier this month an agreement with Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency in order to confirm their mutual interest in developing Kazakhstan’s digital asset market.
