Cambodia Central Bank Launches Bakong Blockchain Payments System

But don’t call it a CBDC, says central bank reps. Amid a global race toward central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, Cambodia officially launched a blockchain-based platform for digital money transactions called Bakong. "Bakong, a payment and money transfer service through banks or microfinance institutions, was established under the initiative of the National Bank of Cambodia," said an article from Dap-News on Oct. 28. The Asian country's central bank collaborated with a number of entities on the project.Bakong first secured involvement from Cambodian financial giant PRASAC in October....

Launched in late 2020, Cambodia’s digital money project Bakong reached 200,000 users in June, doubling from three months earlier. The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) continues progressing with its central bank digital currency-like initiative known as Bakong, disclosing several project milestones.NBC’s director-general and the Bakong project lead Chea Serey said in a Wednesday interview with The Nikkei that Bakong’s electronic wallet reached 200,000 users in June, doubling from three months earlier. Based on blockchain technology, the Bakong payment and money transfer service was....

Soramitsu, the firm that helped build Cambodia’s Bakong digital payments system, will work with the Laos government to research what a Laotian CBDC might look like. Laos has become the latest nation to begin exploring a central bank digital currency (CBDC), announcing upcoming research on the subject in partnership with Japanese distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm Soramitsu.According to an Oct. 3 report from Nikkei Asia, the project is expected to begin this month and follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Laos’ central bank and the Japan International....

Cambodia's central bank - aptly named the National Bank of Cambodia - is refusing to recognize the ever-popular bitcoin as a currency, according to the Phnom Penh Post. The central bank's stance was reportedly confirmed on Wednesday by director-general Chea Serey: "NBC will not recognise a currency that is not issued or backed by a government. Bitcoin's issuer is not a central bank of any jurisdiction," he said. The lack of regulations surrounding the digital currency means that consumers are not protected in instances of fraud and theft, "which has proven to be a daily occurrence in the....

The National Bank of Cambodia is working toward a blockchain payment system for its citizens in partnership with Japanese industry startup Soramitsu. The startup is notably affiliated with the Linux Foundation’s open-source Hyperledger project. The central bank and Soramitsu have entered a co-development agreement to study and contribute toward the open-source development of Hyperledger Iroha, a blockchain project originally developed by the Japanese company. Iroha creates reusable components in C++, enabling web, mobile developers and programmers to contribute to the Hyperledger project.....