Yello Paradisers! South Korea is making waves in the digital currency realm. The Bank of Korea (BOK) is set to launch a pilot project, delving into the technical infrastructure of a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC).
📰 Collaborative Endeavor
The CBDC pilot is a joint initiative between the BOK, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Announced on Oct.4, the project aims to assess the feasibility of a monetary system anchored on “wholesale CBDCs.”
📰 Key Participants
The pilot will encompass both private banks and public institutions. Lending its technical prowess to the project will be the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
📰 Phases of Testing
The BOK has outlined plans to test both retail and wholesale versions of the CBDC. In the wholesale model, banks will tokenize their deposits, circulating them within a network supervised by the BOK, FSC, and FSS. The live testing phase for the retail CBDC is anticipated to kick off post system setup in Q4 2024.
📰 Looking Ahead
While the BOK has emphasized that the pilot doesn’t necessarily translate to a full-fledged implementation, optimism is in the air. Lee Myung-soon, the First Deputy Governor of the FSS, perceives the pilot as a monumental step towards envisioning the future monetary system. This sentiment resonates with views expressed by Denis Beau, the first deputy governor at Banque de France, earlier in September.
ParadiseTeam 🌴
