South Korea’s Central Bank to Test Digital Currency With Banks in 2021

CBDC, also central bank digital currency, is a digital token issued by a country. Many governments and central banks around the world are exploring the use of CBDCs. Even though they mostly remain in the hypothetical stage. However, more than 80% of central banks are looking at digital currencies. The Reserve Bank of Australia announced […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will soon test how it could issue digital currency using a blockchain-based interbank payment system. According to Bloomberg, the planned proof-of-concept will be supported by blockchain consortium R3CEV, as well as eight banks and an unnamed local stock exchange. The Development Bank of Singapore, HSBC, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi are all said to be participating. In a speech on Wednesday, MAS managing director Ravi Menon said the test could come to include other central banks. Further, he credited the....

A group of South African banks have pushed ahead with plans to test blockchain applications in a partnership that has drawn support from key regulators in the country. As reported by local outlets IT Web and MoneyWeb, the project included teams from Standard Chartered, Absa, Rand Merchant Bank, Investec and Nedbank. Supporters of the initiative included the Financial Services Board, a major finance regulator; Strate, the country’s central securities depository; and the South African Reserve Bank. The institutions involved developed and tested a system for issuing syndicated loans via....

The second phase of the CBDC mock testing is expected to complete by June this year The Bank of Korea has successfully completed the first phase of its central bank digital currency mock testing started in August 2021. The South Korean central bank said that the first phase of its CBDC mock testing was completed in December while the second phase is currently underway, reported YNA news. The first phase of the mock test involved some of the basic functions of the sovereign digital currency such as distribution and issuance.The second phase of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot....

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor, Lesetja Kganyago, has once again confirmed that the central bank is presently studying the feasibility of issuing a digital currency. In his remarks at the SARB’s annual general meeting, governor Kganyago suggested his organization has embarked on this study to keep abreast with the growing trend of central banks that are studying CBDCs. Retail CBDC In the past few years, several central banks including a few in Africa have similarly announced their CBDC studies. Already, the central banks of Ghana and Nigeria have both revealed they will....