Share this article

National Bank of Georgia to Test CBDC Next Year

The pilot program will initially focus on retail payments.

Updated May 11, 2023, 3:53 p.m. Published Oct 6, 2021, 10:04 p.m.
Tbilisi, Georgia's capital
Tbilisi, Georgia's capital

The National Bank of Georgia, which in May said it was exploring the possible development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), plans to launch a pilot program next year.

  • Initial testing will be aimed at retail use, Interfax reported, citing Papuna Lezhava, a vice governor at the central bank.
  • A digital lari is not crypto currency, but is the evolution of cash, Lezhava said. It will improve the efficiency of the payments system and broaden financial inclusion.
jwp-player-placeholder
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters

See also: Republic of Georgia’s Central Bank Is Researching a Digital Currency

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

U.S. Senate's Crypto Market Structure Bill Gets Messy as Calendar Weighs Down

Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

The White House has shut down proposals, and lawmakers are circulating the Democrats' asks in what had been a close negotiation, revealing 11th-hour pressure.

What to know:

  • Democrats shared a response to Republicans outlining their continuing priorities for a crypto market structure bill, which they said was intended to "reach an agreement and proceed towards a mark-up."
  • The document laid out concerns with financial stability, market integrity and public officials' ability to trade and profit off of crypto, echoing concerns laid out in a framework Democrats shared in September.
  • The Senate is running out of time in the Congressional calendar to hold a markup hearing — a key step toward progressing the bill — before 2025 ends.