Central Bank Digital Currency “CBDC” is the main concern of many central banks across the world.

South Korea is no exception as the Central Bank of Korea is looking to move forward with the creation and implementation of the Central Bank Digital Currency “CBDC” at a slow but steady and certain pace.

According to the information that revealed The Korea Herald reported on Monday, the Bank of Korea is working on implementing a virtual environment that will allow evaluation, monitoring and testing of the various stages needed to digitize its fiat currency.

Korea wants CBDC, but no rush:

The BOK plans to divide its research into two parts:

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The first is mainly theoretical, studying the best features of central bank currencies, their compatibility with the current legal system, and the issues they can raise, such as data protection, offline transactions, etc.

The second, more practical stage includes real-time testing of international transactions and cross-border payments.

Looking at the news is that it is bringing Korea closer to the realm of digitizing money, but the authorities there are still emphasizing their caution.

The first phase will start in August this year.

However, since it is only an exploration, it does not even guarantee future implementation.

The central bank has not yet revealed plans to launch a CBDC in the near future.

This research is expected to peak in December.

If all goes well, the second phase is due to start a year later, in June 2022.

A Bank of Korea official told the Korea Herald:

Korea could start using a central bank digital currency if it proves to be better than cash if physical cash transactions decline.

We are launching beta testing to see how central bank digital currency can be used as a form of safe asset when the share of cash transactions drops dramatically.

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According to the Bank of Korea, the Korean government has agreed to allocate a budget of 4.9 billion won (US$4.4 million) to implement the project.

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This would put Korea in competition to become the first developed country to launch its own digital currency for central banks.

China is the most developed country, and has already distributed several million digital yuan, with real-time testing in several regions.

The US is also studying the feasibility of a digital dollar, and many countries in Europe have been very excited about the idea of ​​a central bank digital currency.

For example, France has already made agreements with the Tezos project to use its blockchain network as a CBDC infrastructure and banks are already using Tezos to issue security cryptocurrencies.

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