Bakong extends beyond Cambodia's borders. China's CBDC sets a $1 trillion annual transaction plan for e-CNY. The ECB is looking at B2B applications for the digital euro. Tokenization news with Euroclear's digital assets platform and Taurus
For all the key details of new Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) projects in the banking world, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, stablecoins, and central bank digital currency (CBDC) updates, the Observers 'Banking and CBDC Roundup' has you covered.
Cambodia is extending its Bakong CBDC to non-citizens by launching a 'Bakong Tourists' application. The application will allow visitors from neighboring countries to purchase at 3.3 million locations, send and receive money, and convert funds between U.S. dollars and Cambodian riels.
Soramitsu, the National Bank of Cambodia's tech partner, has previously envisioned a regional digital payment network based on the Bakong system.
Another CBDC solutions provider, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) demonstrated this week a cross-border payment concept integrating its Filia retail CBDC solution and the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN) multilateral global messaging network. A transaction initiated in digital euro with a European payment processor was settled in a digital rupee wallet connected to the Indian bank.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) is exploring the application of digital euro in business-to-business (B2B) payments. Most of the work so far has focused on prioritizing person-to-person (P2P), point-of-sale (POS), e-commerce, and government (G2X and X2G) payments. Now, the ECB has invited Industry 4.0 representatives to a workshop to discuss the needs of their financial processes.
The financial department of China's Fuzhou municipality issued the "Fuzhou Digital Renminbi Pilot Three-Year (2024-2026) Action Plan," which included activities to promote the country's CBDC pilot in 13 fields, including business, culture, tourism, and other selected industries. The aim is to increase the volume of transactions by 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) each year.
Fuzhou is among the smallest in the list of 23 pilot cities selected by the Chinese authorities for the e-CNY pilot. The capital of Fujian province has a population of around 4 million. If we extrapolate the target for the total country, then the annual plan for e-CNY will be around $1 trillion.
Singapore’s DBS Bank, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, is exploring a blockchain-based government grant management system. The solution, based on DBS's own EVM-compatible permissioned blockchain, is set to improve grant management by programming the criteria to the allocated funds on blockchain and automating disbursements. In a pilot run, the Singapore FinTech Association disbursed 27 government grants using the solution. The next step will be integrating it into the Singaporean CBDC Project Orchid, which DBS is part of.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-led development bank, has issued a $300 million digitally native note (DNN) using Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI). This is the first such note for AIIB and the second similar product issued using Euroclear's digital asset platform. The first one was EUR 100 million DNN issued by the World Bank’s lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 2023.
D-FMI is based on R3’s Corda blockchain technology, yet integrates also its traditional settlement system.
"The success of this transaction proves Euroclear’s D-FMI allows for easy and broad adoption of digital bonds at scale where market participants can buy and sell the bonds within their existing account structures," said AIIB Treasurer, Domenico Nardelli.
State Street, a global custody bank overseeing $44 trillion in assets, hired Taurus SA, a Swiss digital asset infrastructure specialist firm, to provide digital asset capabilities to its clients. The activities will focus on the tokenization of traditional assets and digital asset custody. State Street will use platforms developed by Taurus for creating and managing digital assets as well as for connecting to other blockchain protocols.