South Korean Central Bank Speeds Up CBDC Rollout Plans

The digital Korean Won will be piloted with 100,000 participants by the end of 2024 as the Bank of Korea (BOK) speeds up its Central Bank Digital Currency initiative.

The BOK will engage with important regulatory agencies to test the usefulness of its CBDC, with the goal of creating a network that can mint and trade three unique tokens that aren’t like other cryptocurrencies.

As part of a live transaction experiment, the BOK plans to launch two new digital currencies with an emphasis on practical uses like digital coupons and deposit tokens, all the while addressing private sector worries about possible effects on business operations.

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is an effort that the Bank of Korea (BOK) intends to speed up. The bank plans to run a trial program with 100,000 people by the end of 2024, according to Newsway. This program will assess the usability and deposit capabilities of the digital Korean Won, as well as other features.

The Bank of Korea said in October that it would launch “CBDC usability studies” in tandem with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, two of the most prominent regulatory agencies in the nation. Furthermore, lawmakers have drafted a statute that differentiates CBDCs from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). In order to “produce and circulate” three “varieties” of tokens “based in institutional CBDC frameworks,” the bank plans to “build a trial CBDC network,” as it has disclosed its approach.

The plan calls for the Bank of Korea (BOK) to issue and circulate tokens that function similarly to electronic money and deposits. The plan is for this project to launch in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Digital Currency I” will serve as a deposit token, while “Digital Currency II” will be the money token. Both will be introduced by the BOK. Up to one hundred thousand people will be able to participate in a live transaction experiment to see how private digital currencies work in a business context. The use of deposit tokens combined with digital coupons will be the primary focus of the study. The potential of digital currency programming features will be shown by programming these vouchers to buy certain things for specific needs.

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