Thai central bank to issue state-backed digital money
The central Bank of Thailand (BoT) revealed on August 22 plans to introduce a state-issued cryptocurrency on R3’s Corda blockchain. The move signifies the first such development in the entire Southeast Asian region.
BoT in a press release referred to the protocol as a “wholesale” Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), meaning its use is limited to financial institutions and related markets. The clarification puts to rest rumors of a state-controlled cryptocurrency for the citizens, which would be referred to as “retail CBDC.” With regards to private cryptocurrency initiatives, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission announced in June the country’s cryptocurrency and initial coin offering regulations.
BoT will cooperate with eight major international and Thai and banks including Bangkong Bank, Krungthai, Siam Commercial Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered, among others. The central bank describes the development as a “collaborative milestone.”
The project is dubbed “Inthanon” and comes in times of a weakening economy. The decentralised money transfer initiative, powered by blockchain technology, is seen as a means to “raise the Thai financial sector’s technological readiness” for adopting new disruptive technologies in a concentrated effort to “enhance operational efficiencies,” the central bank said in its announcement.
Project Inthanon will be led by the BoT and has New York-based R3 as its technology partner. The CBDC project draws parallels to similar efforts undertaken by the central banks of Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.
‘The outcome and insights from Project Inthanon will contribute to the design of Thailand’s future financial market infrastructure,’ the BoT said, underlining the significance of the project.
The central Bank of Thailand (BoT) revealed on August 22 plans to introduce a state-issued cryptocurrency on R3’s Corda blockchain. The move signifies the first such development in the entire Southeast Asian region. BoT in a press release referred to the protocol as a “wholesale” Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), meaning its use is limited to financial institutions and related markets. The clarification puts to rest rumors of a state-controlled cryptocurrency for the citizens, which would be referred to as “retail CBDC.” With regards to private cryptocurrency initiatives, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission announced in June the country’s cryptocurrency...
The central Bank of Thailand (BoT) revealed on August 22 plans to introduce a state-issued cryptocurrency on R3’s Corda blockchain. The move signifies the first such development in the entire Southeast Asian region.
BoT in a press release referred to the protocol as a “wholesale” Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), meaning its use is limited to financial institutions and related markets. The clarification puts to rest rumors of a state-controlled cryptocurrency for the citizens, which would be referred to as “retail CBDC.” With regards to private cryptocurrency initiatives, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission announced in June the country’s cryptocurrency and initial coin offering regulations.
BoT will cooperate with eight major international and Thai and banks including Bangkong Bank, Krungthai, Siam Commercial Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered, among others. The central bank describes the development as a “collaborative milestone.”
The project is dubbed “Inthanon” and comes in times of a weakening economy. The decentralised money transfer initiative, powered by blockchain technology, is seen as a means to “raise the Thai financial sector’s technological readiness” for adopting new disruptive technologies in a concentrated effort to “enhance operational efficiencies,” the central bank said in its announcement.
Project Inthanon will be led by the BoT and has New York-based R3 as its technology partner. The CBDC project draws parallels to similar efforts undertaken by the central banks of Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.
‘The outcome and insights from Project Inthanon will contribute to the design of Thailand’s future financial market infrastructure,’ the BoT said, underlining the significance of the project.
