Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that Kazakhstan will begin testing Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Digital Tenge on the BNB Chain (BNB).
We look forward to seeing how NBK can prepare and integrate CBDC use cases. #BNB A chain that bridges the gap between traditional banks and the crypto ecosystem. (4/4)
— CZ🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) October 26, 2022
According to Zhao, Binance immediately knocked on the door of Kazakhstan’s financial watchdog after obtaining a license from Kazakhstan.
The Binance team met with the First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NKB) and the Head of the Payment Technology Center to introduce the BNB chain. Kazakhstan has already tested his CBDC with real data in a controlled environment and is now deploying its prototype on his BNB chain.
Binance in Kazakhstan
The Kazakh CBDC deployment is not the first collaboration between Kazakhstan and Binance.The first quarter of this year, Zhao visited Country meeting with the President, Chief of Staff, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry. Kazakhstan was one of his on Zhao’s agenda for scaling Binance’s growth.
In May, the exchange signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, documenting that Binance would help Kazakhstan in creating and launching cryptocurrency regulations.
Regarding the memorandum, Mr. Zhao said:
“Kazakhstan is one of the world leaders in the cryptocurrency mining industry. The country was one of the first in the world to introduce legalization of mining. We believe that we can make a significant contribution to the development of the local crypto community and blockchain ecosystem.”
Kazakhstan’s change of heart
At the time of the memorandum, Kazakhstan was indeed one of the most mining-friendly countries in the world.
The President of Kazakhstan signed a bill to tax cryptocurrency mining on July 11th. The country had previously hinted at halting mining operations due to the energy crisis. This tax rate starts at 1 tenge per KWh and increases based on the energy consumed.
