Not Wanting To Be Left Behind In China, The Central Bank Of Japan Will Have A Digital Money Trial

Japan intends to launch the CBDC in two months. (Photo; Doc. Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Central Bank of Japan is rumored to be starting a trial of using digital yen in April this year. This step was taken to catch up with China, which has introduced an aggressive campaign to popularize e-CNY.

According to a CNBC report, this testing phase includes processing transaction simulations with private financial companies. Shinichi Uchida, Executive Director of the Bank of Japan, said consumers and retailers would not be included in this experiment.

"Our hope is that this pilot program will produce better designs through discussions with private companies," he said.

The purpose of this trial is to prepare the Central Bank of Japan if the local government removes a digital version of the national currency. Uchida argues that such financial products should be presented to the private sector before being launched. The central bank assured a year ago that it would carefully approach CBDC and ensure its compatibility with the domestic monetary ecosystem.

Scandinavian countries, Sweden, have conducted experiments to investigate how digital corona will fit its financial network and whether digital corona can be used for cross-border payments. The Central Bank of Japan previously said it could use Sweden as a model to launch CBDCs.

However, the Central Bank of Japan pledged not to imitate China's moves. Chinese authorities have distributed $ millions of e-CNY to residents in several cities, including Beijing's capitals, Chengdu and Shenzhen. They also allowed the use of digital yuan during the Winter Olympics held in Beijing last year.

With this trial, the Central Bank of Japan hopes to produce better designs through discussions with private companies. The Central Bank of Japan is also committed to continuing to coordinate with the private sector and ensure that CBDCs can be adopted properly in society.

Di sisi lain, sejumlah perusahaan kripto terkemuka yang beroperasi di Jepang telah menghentikan layanannya. Baru-baru ini, Kraken dan Coinbase mengumumkan bahwa mereka akan meninggalkan ekosistem perdagangan kripto lokal.

The reason, they complained about unfavorable conditions in the Japanese market and the decline in the cryptocurrency industry. However, Binance plans to return to Japan after obtaining permission in September 2022. However, whatever happens, the digital currency industry continues to attract the attention of market players and the general public around the world.