After China’s upcoming digital yuan, various central banks from different parts of the globe have also expressed interest to issue their own cryptocurrency. The Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines’ central bank, is the most recent one to join the race by announcing that it is mulling the creation its own central bank digital currency (CBDC)
The BSP recently revealed that it is mulling on creating its own central bank digital currency, according to Pymnts.com. This was revealed by BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno during a virtual meeting.
The BSP already formed a committee to look at the feasibility and potential implications of creating its own cryptocurrency. Diokno expressed that he doesn’t consider digital coins as a threat to other types of currency.
In fact, the BSP Governor believes that both cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is important. “Cryptocurrency for us has always been beyond the asset itself but more on the blockchain technology that underpins it,” Diokno told Bloomberg.
BSP is not the only central bank that is mulling on the possibility of issuing its own CBDC. For instance, the Bank of England, European Central Bank, and Bank of Japan have already taken steps to explore the feasibility of such a project, according to Finextra.
Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced plans of exploring the feasibility of creating a CBDC from a technical perspective. BoJ has already revealed plans of commencing a proof-of-concept process with the digital yen.
The BoJ already identified some technical requirements that a CBDC should possess. “In order for the central bank digital currency (CBDC) to have a cash equivalent function, it is necessary to ask: ‘Can it be safely used everywhere and at any time?’ Thus, it is necessary to establish a safe and secure payment method and consider whether it is technically possible to have these two properties: universal access and resilience,” BoJ said it a report it published titled “Technical challenges of CBDC: Central Bank Digital Currency as the cash equivalent.”
While other central banks are currently mulling the possibility of issuing their own cryptocurrency, China is already way ahead of the game. The country is already in the testing phase of digital yuan and has recently announced a plan to test its use in the Tencent-backed food delivery giant Meituan Dianping, a food delivery platform with 435 million active users.
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