Tajikistan CBDC news is false, central bank confirms

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There has been a lot of interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) globally. Fantom Foundation recently announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with one of the largest banks in Tajikistan, OJSC Orienbank to develop a hybrid CBDC platform for the country.

https://twitter.com/FantomFDN/status/1442493271410987013?s=20

The foundation said the proposed CBDC would go through several phases of testing and refinement. And following the trials, Fantom, Orienbank, and the National Bank will aim for a nationwide rollout.

It was also stated that Fantom and Orienbank will work together to build commercial and retail payment networks for the E-SOM, which is the digital form of the Tajikistani Somoni.

The foundation said it would roll out the product nationally under the sandbox regulation of the National Bank of Tajikistan, which the central bank has denied.

Fantom further stated that the CBDC will be used for interbank transfer, P2P money transfers, and large business payment systems to small business transactions. However, the National Bank of Tajikistan has denied the news and said in a statement:

“The information on introduction of Central Digital Currency Platform (CBDC) through the National Bank of Tajikistan in the Republic of Tajikistan is incorrect and untrue, therefore the National Bank of Tajikistan has already sent a letter to the Fantom Foundation concerning the disclosure of false information.”

In 2019, Russian news agency Tass reported that Universa, a Russian startup, had a partnership for a Tunisian CBDC. The central bank later debunked the news and declared it as false, while Universa later denied claiming it was a CBDC. Universa proceeded with developing a stablecoin, which it demonstrated at a Tunisian conference with the central bank representatives in attendance.

Recently, the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan announced its partnership with a renowned platform for the first stage of its CBDC pilot.

To learn more about central bank digital currencies and some of the design decisions that need to be considered when creating and launching it, read nChain’s CBDC playbook.

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