The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) is exploring the potential of using blockchain technology, the bank said last week.

The central bank recently held a meeting on the possibilities of this innovative technology, AzerNews reported. The meeting was attended by First Deputy Chairman of CBA Alim Guliyev with State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) Deputy Regional Director for South Caucasus Simone Haeberli and Chairman of the Board of the Swiss Trub Trading Christoph Willi Franzen.

The meeting particularly focused on the use of blockchain technology in foreign countries and the potential of integrating systems of digital identification into information and payment systems.

More recently, CBA chairman Elman Rustamov said that the CBA is keeping a wary eye on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The central bank plans to implement blockchain technology in financial and banking sectors, but keeps a “conservative” position on cryptocurrencies.

“"The Central Bank of Azerbaijan has a conservative position regarding cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is not a parallel financial monetary system, but a high-risk investment asset," Rustamov said, as quoted by abc.az.