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Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Governor Naci Ağbal reportedly told members of parliament on Friday that the country plans to pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the second half of 2021. In 2019 the Bank announced that it was starting up a CBDC research and development program, and it reportedly established the Directorate-General Financial Innovation in November 2020 to carry it out. Ağbal said that the conceptual phase of this project has been completed.

China's Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) - a public-private nationwide infrastructure project to spur mass adoption of blockchain technology - is setting up international portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan, following its September announcements to set up BSN portals in Hong Kong and South Korea. The BSN integrates frameworks such as Ethereum, Algorand, EOS, Polkadot, NEO, Tezos, Oasis, Hyperledger Fabric, ConsenSys Quorum, and Corda. It is also supported by cloud services, including Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft Azure.

According to Turkey's Presidential Annual Program for 2023, the Central Bank of Turkey will start piloting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2023. Many news services are reporting that a Digital Lira will be launched in 2023, but according to Google Translate the key passage in the Annual Program Budget Rationale ("kullanım testlerine başlanacaktır") translates to "usage tests will begin" which sounds like a pilot to me. But it does sound like several proofs of concept (PoC) have been done (the Annual Program calls them "pilots", but if they didn't include "usage tests" then they're PoCs by my definition.

Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) provided an update on the proof-of-concept phase of its Digital Turkish Lira Project. Payment transactions were successfully executed on the Digital Turkish Lira Network, and in the first quarter of 2023, closed-circuit tests will be carried out with technology stakeholders. The findings obtained from the tests will be shared with the public in a comprehensive evaluation report. The tests will then be expanded later in 2023 to include selected banks and financial technology companies, followed by broad participation pilot tests. Tests will include checking out how the distributed ledger technology (DLT) based platform will integrate with existing payment ecosystems. Also, throughout 2023, priority will be given to the legal framework and building out digital identification infrastructure.

Datalight analyzed website traffic data from 100 top crypto exchanges to determine where traders are located. With 22M traders, the US ranks first, with 6.2M Japan ranks second, South Korea ranks third with 5.7M, followed by the UK, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Vietnam, Turkey and Canada.

Just as community currencies boomed during the Great Depression, their digital versions are expanding amid the COVID-19 recession. Complex experiments are combining mobile payments with blockchain. In Turkey, Good4Trust, a virtual bazaar for socially and environmentally conscious producers and consumers, is preparing to launch a community currency using blockchain powered by Celo. Brixton, a London neighborhood, has announced the release of a digital version of its Brixton Pound community currency using blockchain from Algorand. According to Celo's Ezechiel Copic, "there's a lot of focus on central bank digital currency [but] local currencies can provide a testing ground for these initiatives."

The Turkish government is reportedly planning to establish a central custodian bank to eliminate counterparty risk following the collapse of the Thodex and Vebitcoin exchanges last week. Authorities are also pondering a capital threshold for exchanges and education requirements for executives at such firms, although the plans haven't been finalized yet.

The Turkish government has added crypto-asset exchanges to the list of firms subject to the country's anti-money laundering and combating the funding of terrorism (AML-CFT) regulations. The regulatory change took immediate effect after the presidential decree-similar to an executive order in the US-was published in the Official Gazette today. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2021/05/20210501-5.pdf

Despite the apparent complexity, Fei's mechanism is based on a similar principle to most fiat currencies, where central banks often use their own reserves of gold and foreign currencies to back their currency's value during periods of strong selling pressure. Direct restrictions on selling are also not new, with countries like Lebanon, Venezuela and Turkey offering recent examples of enacting stringent capital controls in a bid to stabilize their currency's value.

While countries like Turkey, Iran and Israel are in the process of investigating the advantages of blockchain technology, the UAE, along with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, is leading the charge when it comes to positive crypto and blockchain legislation. The UAE, in particular, already hosts several blockchain initiatives that stand to benefit significantly from the new regulations.

Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey will launch a pilot of a new retail payment system on December 18, 2020. The Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds (FAST) system will allow fund holders to transfer money between their accounts at different banks within seconds on a 24/7 basis. The Easy Addressing System, which facilitates payments by using information like phone or ID numbers and e-mail addresses, will also be made available to all fund holders. https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/EN/TCMB+EN/Main+Menu/Announcements/Press+Releases/2020/ANO2020-67

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) continues to research the potential benefits of introducing a digital Turkish lira. As part of the Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform, the CBRT has signed of memoranda of understanding with three domestic research and technology companies. With these firms, the CBRT will develop a prototype "Digital Turkish Lira Network" and run limited closed-circuit pilot tests. Based on the results of those tests, the CBRT will unveil advanced phases of the pilot study that will reflect a broader participation. The CBRT has made no final decision regarding the issuance of the digital Turkish lira. https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/EN/TCMB+EN/Main+Menu/Announcements/Press+Releases/2021/ANO2021-40

"Cryptocurrency traders call it the "sandwich" maneuver, and nobody wants to be the turkey caught in the middle. Here's how it works: You spot another trader on the network trying to buy a token, such as Ether or another so-called altcoin. Then you place an order, too. If you are able to get your purchase done before the other trader, you'll get a good deal on a coin you know there's demand for. Your purchase pushes up the price the other buyer has to pay. Completing the sandwich, you sell for an easy profit."

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey signed bilateral memorandums of understanding with ASELSAN, HAVELSAN and TÜBİTAK-BİLGEM, and established the "Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform" in September 2021.

According to Chainalysis, global crypto adoption has leveled off in the last year after growing consistently since mid-2019. Emerging markets dominate the index. Out of the top 20 ranked countries, ten are lower middle income (:Vietnam, Philippines, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Morocco, Nepal, Kenya, and Indonesia), eight are upper middle income (Brazil, Thailand, Russia, China, Turkey, Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador) and two are high income (United States and United Kingdom).

Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası has banned the direct and indirect use of crypto-assets for payments. According to its statement "payment service providers cannot develop business models in a way that crypto assets are used directly or indirectly in the provision of payment services and electronic money issuance, and cannot provide any services related to such business models." The regulation comes into force on April 30. https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/EN/TCMB+EN/Main+Menu/Announcements/Press+Releases/2021/ANO2021-17

The Turkish government government has confirmed that it is testing a new blockchain-based version of the lira to be issued by the country's central bank.

On February 19, 2024 I reported on the English version of the Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası (CBRT) report on the first phase of its digital Turkish lira testing (originally published in Turkish in December 2023). The report said that "pilot" testing had been done, without providing enough information as to whether the pilots are really pilots. However, thanks to Central Bank Payment News, we now have that clarity to label the CBRT phase one testing as pilot testing. Here's CBRT Deputy Executive Directors Zeynel Abidin Avcı and Bilgehan Kürşad Öz: "The pilot tests involved real users and specific sale-points, such as cafes, restaurants, and giftshops. In total, the two pilot tests ran for close to a month, and more than 2.000 users, who are not central bank employees, made their payments and transfers. By doing so, they have tested the systems and provided valuable feedback."

The Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası (CBRT) published the results of the first phase of its digital Turkish lira testing. Unfortunately it's in Turkish only for now and Google Translate choked on it, but here's a summary that I asked Microsoft's AI Copilot to prepare. The project started in 2020 with a proof-of-concept (POC) that tested the applicability of various distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) to the digital currency. The study was successfully completed and followed by the establishment of the Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform with the participation of technology partners. The first phase of the project focused on retail payments and involved the preparation of the technical work environment, the design and development of the digital currency system, the integration of a prototype digital identity system, the creation of a digital wallet application, and the simulation and testing of different scenarios for the issuance, distribution, online payment/transfer and redemption of the digital currency. The first phase also included pilot tests in selected locations to measure the system performance and user experience. The tests were successfully completed in the first half of 2023 and the first phase was finalized. The findings of the first phase will inform the next phases, which will involve more extensive pilot tests and the expansion of the collaboration platform with new participants.