The National Bank of Kazakhstan launched its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital tenge, on November 15 in Almaty. The first CBDC transactions were executed using bank cards powered by Mastercard and Visa.

Digital tenge “builds a bridge between traditional finance and the world of digital assets” and “unlocks the potential of blockchain technology”, Binur Zhalenov, CEO of the National Payment Corporation (NPC), said. The NPC was created in September this year to implement the CBDC