TCMB Announced the Second Phase Report of Its Digital Lira Studies

TCMB's Digital Lira Second Phase Report Released

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has presented an important progress report regarding its digital lira studies to the public. This work encompasses the second phase studies initiated as a result of the Digital Turkish Lira First Phase Evaluation Report published at the end of 2023.

Basic Principles of the Studies

The new report states that the projects will be carried out within the framework of principles such as privacy, technological and architectural flexibility, interoperability, do no harm first, and independence from financial intermediaries.

Goals of the Digital Turkish Lira

With the digital Turkish lira, it is aimed to provide an infrastructure for innovative use cases and to create a complementary payment channel. This is expected to ensure uniformity in payments and to increase financial inclusion.

Content of the Second Phase Studies

In the second phase of the Digital Turkish Lira Research and Development Project, the CBRT continues its activities in the field of digital currency in collaboration with technology stakeholders. In this context, efforts are ongoing to mature the prototype system created in the first phase and to integrate financial intermediary institutions into the system.

Important Project Applications and Tests

In the second phase, there will be a focus on programmable payments and offline payments. Also, proof-of-concept studies regarding cross-border payments are being carried out within the CBRT. Preparatory studies for the legal and economic aspects of the project are also ongoing.

The outputs of the studies will be shared with the public in the upcoming period. As in the first phase of the project, pilot tests will also be conducted in the second phase, where system improvements, new functionalities, and test scenarios will be emphasized.

These pilot tests will contain scenarios that will increase real-time usage to comprehensively measure the general characteristics and performance of the system.