Kazakhstan uses CBDC to fund China railway project [Video]

As part of the second phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) trials, the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) has launched a project that uses a programmable digital tenge to pay for a railway to China.

NBK launched the first phase of its CBDC trials in late 2023, targeting local payments and cross-border transfers. According to the central bank, this pilot was a massive success, leading to an expansion of the use cases to include regional partnerships. China was a natural target as its digital yuan is one of the most advanced, and earlier this month, the two nations signed a deal to explore CBDCs jointly.

In the first implementation of this partnership, NBK announced recently that it’s using a programmable version of its CBDCto pay contractors building a railway to the border with China. The rail line connects Kazakhstan’s central region of Moyynty to Dostyk, another Kazakh town 836 kilometers away …