- Shortly after CBRT completed its first CBDC test, Turkey announced a digital identity application based on blockchain.
- The E-Devlet digital government portal of Turkey is going to use blockchain-based digital identity to verify citizens during the login process.
- Turkey will be able to access e-wallet applications.
Turkey is planning to use blockchain-based technology at the time of the login process for online public services. The digital government portal of Turkey, E-Devlet, is used to access a high range of public services, going to use a blockchain-based digital identity while the login process to verify Turkish citizens.
Turkey’s vice president, Fuat Oktay, made an announcement at the Digital Turkey event in 2023 that citizens of Turkey will be able to access e-wallet applications. He mentioned that blockchain-based technology is a revolutionary effort for e-government, adding that digital services will be more accessible and secure with blockchain. Users will be able to keep their digital information and documents on their phones.
The Vice president said, “With the login system that will work within the scope of the e-wallet application, our citizens will be able to enter the e-Devlet with a digital identity created in the blockchain network.”
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has completed the central bank’s first digital currency trial, the Digital Turkish Lira, and has signaled plans to continue testing throughout 2023.
According to the statement released on December 29 by The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, the authority of the central bank said that it successfully executed its “first payment transaction” by using the digital lira.
The central bank of Turkey first announced that they were looking into the benefits of introducing a Digital Turkish Lira in Sept. 2021 in a research project known as “Central Bank Digital Turkish Lira Research and Development.”
CBRT said in its most recent statement that it would continue testing the use of distributed ledger technologies in the country’s payment systems and their “integration” with quick payment systems.
Turkey has announced multiple projects driven by the blockchain over the past few years, but very few of them have been realized to date. In 2019, the country planned for a national blockchain infrastructure. However, aside from some projects of proof-of-concept and its central bank digital currency (CBDC) test – executed after multiple delays – its ambitions of blockchain have yet to bear fruit.
In Jan 2020, Turkey’s cultural hub of Konya was building a “City Coin” project to be used by Turkish citizens to pay for public services, but there have been no further updates shared with the public in the last two years.
After completing its first transactions by using a central bank digital currency recently, the Turkish central bank is pushing toward more tests over 2023.