Scale development research · Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
We look at the history of money through records on clay tablets. Today central banks are designing a digital form of the record. CBDC-SPAR aims to develop an instrument that measures what people expect from this new money regarding surveillance, privacy, payment autonomy and legal redress .
Qualitative study ethically approved Planned period for interviews: 20 November 2026 to 28 February 2027.
Follow the storyStory
I · Clay
In Mesopotamia, debts, loans and delivery records were written on clay tablets. The cylinder seal was the signature showing who approved the record.
To trust a record, two things need to be known: who keeps the record and who can see it. These two questions still apply today.
II · Metal
Many objects were used as means of payment, from shells weighed out to metal. In western Anatolia, Lydia minted some of the earliest known coins in the 7th century BC. The lion-head stamp showed who guaranteed the weight and value.
The record moved from the tablet to the face of the coin. Payment by coin did not require an intermediary to record the transaction. This feature of cash lies at the centre of the digital money debate.
III · Paper and accounting
Banknotes are still in our pockets. However, a significant part of payments such as salaries, rent and bills is now made through electronic records kept by banks. Every card payment leaves a trace.
These records are today held by commercial banks and payment institutions. A central bank digital currency could add a new record keeper to this picture.
IV · Code
Of the 93 central banks that took part in the Bank for International Settlements' 2024 survey, 85 are working on retail, wholesale, or both types of central bank digital currency.
The CBRT published the second-phase progress report of the Digital Turkish Lira Project on 24 November 2025; the report states that a decision on issuance has not yet been taken. The European Central Bank has said that if EU legislation is adopted in 2026, a digital euro could be issued in 2029.
How the distributed ledger works
In a distributed ledger, the record is kept on the nodes of a network. A blockchain arranges these records by linking each block to the hash of the previous one. Notice the difference between a proposal, an approval and a record.
cb1eb16beaSame recordcb1eb16beaSame recordcb1eb16beaSame recordcb1eb16beaSame recordApproval
All four copies contain the same previous record: block 42.
Teaching example of a permissioned network · 3 approval rule · NIST: blockchain and distributed ledger technology
01 / Copies
The same history is held in four record cabinets. Keeping a ledger in several places allows records to be compared without relying on a single copy. The cabinets here represent network nodes.
02 / Proposal
A proposal to record a transfer of 10 units from A to B is sent. A node receiving the message and accepting the record are separate events. You can try the key to see an offline node fall behind.
03 / Approval
Nodes validate the record against the protocol's rules. Consensus determines which valid record is added and in what order. In this teaching example we use three approvals; in real systems the threshold, roles and failure assumptions depend on the protocol.
04 / Chain
Block 43 contains the hash of block 42. Change an amount in one copy: the hash recalculated with SHA-256 differs from the others. A hash makes a change visible; on its own it does not approve a transaction or hide the data.
A distributed ledger and a central bank digital currency are different concepts. The CBRT's report includes distributed ledger work; the simple approval rule here is not the protocol of the CBRT system.
The record's trace
A hash is a fixed-length summary calculated from data. SHA-256 produces this summary as 256 bits. Write the same text again: you get the same result. Change one character: see the difference.
Text SHA-256 hash
Text SHA-256 hash
118 of 256 bits changed. Both outputs are 64 hexadecimal characters.
Each small square is one bit. The bronze frames in the second pattern show the bits that changed.
01 / Digest
Both a single word and a long document produce a 256-bit result from SHA-256. The 64 characters on screen are the hexadecimal form of these bits. A hash is not a copy that stores the document's contents.
02 / Comparison
In encryption, data can be reversed using a key. A hash has no key for reversal. However, short and predictable texts can be tried and their results matched. Obtaining a hash is not the same as keeping the content secret.
03 / Chain
When a block contains the hash of the previous block, the records are linked together. If the content changes, it no longer matches the old hash. Detecting a change and deciding which record is accepted are separate tasks; the second belongs to the consensus protocol.
Source: NIST hash functions · Secure Hash Standard
Citizens' questions
That is the goal: to be able to make payments even without internet and mobile networks. The CBRT is developing offline payment as one of the core features of the second phase.
A smart card is one alternative. The design aims to let people without a smartphone or bank account access the digital Turkish lira.
According to the CBRT report, no identity information will be held in the central bank's system; your identity will be known to the bank or payment institution you choose.
The digital Turkish lira is designed as a payment option that complements cash. Digitalisation does not mean cash is removed.
No. A central bank digital currency is money issued and guaranteed by the central bank; the digital Turkish lira is designed as a form of Turkish lira.
Programmable payment and a spending ban are not the same thing. The examples in the CBRT report are future-dated, periodic and conditional payments: they govern when and under what conditions a payment takes place.
The safeguard we are looking for is being able to find an effective route of redress when a problem arises. The general framework for personal data protection is Law No. 6698; legal redress perception is one of the four dimensions of the scale.
What we measure
SPAR, Surveillance, Privacy, Autonomy, Redress are the initial letters of the words: surveillance, privacy, payment autonomy and legal redress. General trust or intention to use does not on its own show which safeguard is expected. We aim to measure these four expectations separately.
Concern that payments may be monitored and that this information may be used beyond its purpose.
Expectations about who may see which payment information, and under what conditions.
The individual's own decision on when and on what money is spent.
The belief that an effective route of objection and redress exists when there is a problem.
Central bank does not look at my payments unless necessary.
The rest of the sentence stays fixed; only the record keeper changes.
If the same person gives different answers to these four sentences, this is a hint that the concern may relate to who keeps the record rather than to the money itself. It is not a definitive conclusion on its own.
Method and status
First people's words, then the measurement instrument, then design choices. The qualitative study has ethics approval; scale development and the preference experiment are planned studies.
The Issuance Authority and Legal Nature of the Digital Turkish Lira, is Tarık İsmet Alkan’s master’s thesis in Information and Technology Law at Ankara Social Sciences University.
The thesis argues that the digital Turkish lira’s issuance authority and legal status should be established together through an explicit statutory provision. This academic assessment informs the project’s questions about safeguards for users.
Read the legal frameworkOne crisis news item, hundreds of different decisions. How do deposits, cash and digital money move when the CBDC limit and social effect change?
A preliminary study developing hypotheses for later field studies, working with hypothetical coefficients.
Open the simulationParticipation is voluntary; interviews will be conducted with informed consent.
Separate ethics approval will be sought before data collection.
Guide
Money agenda · October 2026
Payment when the phone is off, the future of money in the bank and the limits of a digital wallet. We look at major money debates from everyday life.
6 October 2026 · European Central Bank
This is the most concrete question in the digital money debate: will shopping continue even without a connection?
The ECB's recent speech treats the digital euro as a public payment instrument that complements cash. Offline use, payment resilience and the protection of personal data are on the design agenda.
For citizens, the issue is not the name of a technology: it is having an alternative when the phone, card or wallet fails. Offline payment studies in Türkiye should also be read through this same question.
Read the ECB speech ↗3 August 2026 · CBRT
23 projects from 12 banks and 6 payment/electronic money institutions have moved to the third stage, where tests will be carried out. Programmable payments, tokenisation and interoperability with existing systems stand out.
Tokenisation is the representation of an asset or right in a digital record. The CBRT uses the term jetonlaştırma for this. Digital representation and the legal nature of that asset are not the same question.
See the CBRT's project distribution →2026 · Bank for International Settlements
The BIS 2026 report discusses stablecoins, tokenisation and new payment arrangements in terms of trust in the monetary system. A quick application alone does not create a reliable monetary order.
Our question is more personal: who keeps the record, who can see my spending, and to whom do I turn if there is an error? Design choices, as well as people's expectations, will shape this future.
Go to the BIS report →Lab · CBDC-SPAR
If seeing a neighbour's decision changes your own, individual choices can become a shared wave. Our NetLogo model examines this spread and the role of the CBDC limit through adjustable scenarios.
Under the same starting conditions, change the limit, crisis intensity or social effect. Compare the results, then see which assumption makes the difference.
Run your own scenario →Team
Asst. Prof. Dr
Project lead
Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Statistics
Lect.
Researcher
Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Computer Technologies
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