Tunisia Becomes First Country to Launch a Central Bank Digital Currency

Tunisia has announced the launch of its digital currency named ‘E-dinar.’ This makes the small North African state the first country to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), beating China.

To create the digital currency, Tunisia partnered up with the Russian company Universa. E-dinar is not a cryptocurrency, unlike the Venezuelan Petro. The country is making its existing currency digital, and not inventing new money.

In a few months, lots of shops and venues across the country will start accepting E-dinar. It is possible to buy the token online, and soon two thousand outlets selling it will open all over the country.

Tunisia hopes to separate itself from the widely used payment protocol SWIFT, which at any time can turn off its payment channels for any nation. With E-Dinar, the central bank of Tunisia remains in control.

More and more countries are infatuated with the idea of CBDC. Argentina, Brazil, China, Malaysia and the Philippines are working on their digital currencies, while Canada, Singapore and Thailand are thinking about it.