Cambodia Readies Digital Currency

Cambodia is set to roll out Project Bakong, the country’s blockchain-based payment network that features a central bank digital currency (CBDC) payment system.

The platform, trialed in July 2019 and set to go live this quarter, already has the backing of 11 banks, with others to join soon, Serey Chea, National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) assistant governor and director-general of central banking said.

NBC will maintain centralized control of the proposed CBDC with a closed system that will include participants like banks and other financial institutions in the country, the report said.

Serey called the currency the national payment gateway for Cambodia. 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.

Cambodia’s launch of the CBDC comes amid the launch of other state-backed digital currency projects, as central banks come under pressure from private digital currency projects like Facebook’s Libra.