DFC

The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) published an update on the second phase of the Digital Tenge (DT) project, including reporting on testing of five government use case scenarios involving programmable payments. They involved controlling and monitoring the use of funds paid out or lent by the government to support various programs. Two involved payments out of the National Fund for infrastructure projects, and another, investment subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment. Another involved a government microlending program to support farmer livestock purchases, and the fifth one the collection of value-added taxes (VAT). No specific potential full launch dates were given, but 2025 will be the last year in terms of the DT's phased implementation.

This article is a reflection on the ECB DLT trials and the DLT Pilot regime, and what they might say about the possible trajectory of the evolution of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project. It concludes that Europe’s push toward tokenization and a Digital CMU feels more like an evolutionary process than a revolutionary one. The ECB’s trials and the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime signal genuine interest in modernizing financial infrastructure, but progress will be slow, measured, and tightly controlled. While it’s unlikely that a bold, new platform will emerge purely from private sector experimentation, a carefully managed public-private partnership could chart the path forward. Whether this effort leads to a more integrated, efficient capital market or simply another chapter in Europe’s long history of cautious innovation remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Europe’s digital finance ambitions are no longer just theoretical—they’re being tested, one experiment at a time.

The Bank of England (BOE) published a summary of its work during 2024 on a digital pound, including how it relates to the evolving payments landscape. It also published an initial design note as part of its work on a blueprint for the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The blueprint is one of four workstreams in the digital pound design phase. Its purpose is to provide a comprehensive proposition for a digital pound, including technology, operational, ecosystem, commercial, regulatory and financial considerations, and the roles that both the Bank and the private sector could play in delivering it. The Bank also will launch a Digital Pound Lab to enable hands-on experimentation to test API functionality, innovative use cases and potential business models for payment interface providers (PIPs) and external service interface providers (ESIPs). https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/report/2025/blueprint-framework-design-note

The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) is now focusing on stablecoins backed by Digital Tenge — a concept that mirrors the idea of a synthetic central bank digital currency (CBDC). This approach essentially represents e-money fully reserved with liquidity in a Digital Tenge wallet, offering a secure and reliable foundation for digital transactions. Furthermore, the NBK will aim to extend the opportunity of stablecoin issuance to a broader range of players, including non-bank entities, fostering inclusivity and innovation across the ecosystem.