After successfully completing the first test of your central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital Turkish lira, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has announced intentions to continue testing until 2023.

The Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) said in a statement that it successfully carried out its first payment operations using the digital lira on December 29, according to a statement made by the CBRT.

It was said to continue conducting restricted closed-loop pilots with technology stakeholders through the first quarter of 2023. After that, it would extend the program to include select banks and fintech businesses for the remaining months of that year.

In September 2021, the Central Bank of Turkey made the first announcement that it will begin to investigate the potential advantages of adopting a digital version of the Turkish lira as part of a study initiative titled Central Bank Digital Turkish Lira Research and Development. .

At the time, the government did not make any promises about the eventual digitization of the country’s currency and made it clear that it had not made a final decision regarding the release of the digital Turkish lira.

The CBRT said in its most recent statement that it would continue to test the use of distributed ledger technologies in payment systems and their integration with immediate payment systems. This was mentioned in the most recent CBRT statement.

In addition, it will make investigating the legal issues surrounding the digital Turkish lira a top priority. These topics include the economic and legal framework around digital identity, as well as the technical needs associated with it.

Recent months have seen the launch of pilot programs for digital currencies by central banks in several nations, including the UK and Kazakhstan.

The Bank of England is now accepting submissions for a proof of concept for a CBDC wallet, while Kazakhstan’s central bank has suggested adoption of an in-house CBDC from 2023, with phased implementation over the course of three years. .

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has lately shown some unease about its own plans for a CBDC. On December 8, Assistant Governor Brad Jones gave a speech in which he warned that a CBDC could crowd out the Australian dollar and cause people to abandon commercial banks altogether.