Mongolia's capital city to launch blockchain-based money transfer services via Terra partnership

Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar has partnered with stablecoin project Terra with the objective of launching instant money transfer and lending services, e27 reported.

Founded by Daniel Shin, Terra is a new project that aims to create a price-stable digital currency. In August 2018, it raised $32 million in a seed funding round that received support from Binance Labs, OKEx, Huobi Capital and Arrington XRP Capital, among others.

According to e27, Terra’s payment solution will be first rolled out in Ulaanbaatar City’s Nalaikh District through a pilot programme with two main features including peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and mobile payments.

The pilot programme is expected to launch within the next six months and will be gradually expanded across the city.

“We believe this pilot programme with Terra will reform how the people of Nalaikh City make everyday payments. It will contribute to the development and enrichment of the nation’s digital payment infrastructure, while creating a new online platform to easily share information and offering great opportunities to connect with our citizens through advanced technology,” said Radnaabazar Choijinsambuu, Governor, Nalaikh District of the Capital City.

Terra plans to immediately start working with the local government to replace the payment method of utility bills and government subsidies with its stablecoin. A special task force comprising of representatives from Terra, Nalaikh District, and XGround will oversee the initiative.

“Facilitating P2P and recurring utility payments with Terra are important first steps towards building a blockchain-based financial infrastructure in Mongolia,” said Daniel Shin, Co-founder of Terra. “From there, we will build out a wider range of financial services, reforming the remittance, loan, and overall banking industry.”

In November 2018, South Korean internet giant Kakao partnered with Terra to apply its Klaytn platform to the latter’s blockchain-based payment system.