Date:  January 18, 2022, 15:00 – 16:00 (GMT+6, Bishkek time)

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Lecturer: Dr. Michael Lambert

Language: English

Organizers: OSCE Academy

Description

Cryptocurrencies have tremendous potential in Central Asian states, given the increasing access to internet services and personal smartphones, with an extensive use of digital payments and digitalisation in general. However, there are major regional differences between high-income and middle-income States, rural and urbanised areas, legislations, access to digital banking, and regulatory capacity of governments due to several parameters, leading to growing discrepancies undermining the adoption of such payment methods in the region.

This presentation provides an accessible reflection on what the future of crypto-currencies (centralised and decentralised) in Central Asia could be, and argues that one of the priorities of democratic institutions in general should be to allow citizens to hold and use them.