The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) reportedly plans to launch a blockchain-based, peer-to-peer payment and money transfer platform in the next few months, as shared in Blockchain News.
According to the NBC Director-General Chea Serey, the platform would be known as a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Another report from the Phnom Penh Post revealed that the ongoing project is dubbed ‘Project Bakong’. Serey has been quoted to say that the scheme already rallied the support of 11 banks, and expected more to join soon.
Project Bakong itself was launched on a trial basis in July and will kick off operation within the present fiscal quarter.
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“Bakong will play a central role in bringing all players in the payment space in Cambodia under the same platform, making it easy for end-users to pay each other regardless of the institutions they bank with. Eventually, we hope to allow cross border payment through the Bakong system too,” Serey said.
Unlike most cryptocurrencies, which are decentralised, Bakong will deploy a closed system backed by banking authorities. This will enable the project to close the possible loophole.
Apart from Cambodia, another country that has been making headlines with its national cryptocurrency plan is China.
In August 2019, a Forbes report stated that China is planning to issue the cryptocurrency to seven institutions that included tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent.
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