Legislative norms establishing the legal status of the third form of the national currency come into force on July 18. The platform is transitioning from a pilot regime to full operation within the country’s financial system.
What happened
A law regulating the financial market is coming into effect in Kazakhstan, officially making the digital tenge legal tender. As Kursiv.kz writes, only the National Bank will be able to issue, put into circulation, and redeem the new form of currency.
All operations will pass through the state digital tenge platform. Users will be able to open digital accounts through commercial banks and other payment service providers after concluding an agreement.
Account functionality is strictly regulated. Owners will be able to transfer funds, convert them into cash or non-cash money, and check their balance. At the same time, payments are only possible within the available amount on the account, and opening savings deposits in digital tenge is prohibited.
Country and market
The digital tenge platform has been tested in Kazakhstan since 2023. The introduction of the third form of money occurs against the backdrop of high digitalization in the financial sector. Previously, Finteqstan wrote that the volume of QR payments in Kazakhstan reached 8 trillion tenge and surpassed POS terminals.
Now, on top of the developed cashless infrastructure, the regulator is building a programmable currency. The law provides for the possibility of seizing digital tenge on the same grounds as regular money in bank accounts, but taking into account the specifics of smart contracts.
Why it matters
Fixing the legal status means that the digital tenge ceases to be an experiment and is integrated into the basic economy on a par with cash and bank cards.
The regulator is creating a legal and technical framework in which targeted state money can be tracked at every stage, technically excluding its misuse.
What’s next
By the end of 2026, Kazakhstan will expand the use of the digital tenge when spending budget funds. The mechanism of marking money through smart contracts will be applied in public procurement worth over 100 million tenge, including construction, road repair, and the purchase of medicines.