Turkey's Central Bank Moves 23 Projects into Third Phase of Digital Lira Initiative

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) announced the completion of the evaluation process for its Digital Turkish Lira ecosystem. Out of 85 applications submitted by 16 banks and 25 payment‑and‑electronic‑money institutions, 23 projects—representing 12 banks and 6 payment/e‑money firms—have advanced to the third phase. The third‑phase projects will conduct development work and pilot testing. The selected projects cover tokenisation, programmable payments, interoperability with existing systems, user‑centric identity solutions and machine‑to‑machine payments. The first phase of applications ran from 4 September to 15 October 2025, the second phase from 13 November to 12 December 2025, after which the TCMB evaluated submissions against its criteria. Six additional projects were placed on hold and may be reconsidered for future inclusion.