According to Odaily, the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has completed the infrastructure construction for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project and has initiated the first phase of its experimental project. The QCB will investigate large-scale payment settlements between local and international banks. The project, which will continue until October, will focus on distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence, liquidity, and securities trading.
The QCB began researching CBDC technology in March 2022 and confirmed the project's launch in June of the same year. In May of this year, QCB Governor Sheikh Bandar bin Mohamed bin Saoud al-Thani stated that they were in the foundational stage, assessing the pros and cons of issuing a CBDC.
The day before the announcement of the CBDC project, the QCB launched a new fintech sandbox, Express Sandbox, to provide a rapid testing and evaluation process. This project is part of the national development strategy.