Push Admin

Bangko Sentral picks tech for digital currency project

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - ​The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas moved a step forward in its digital currency project by selecting a technology for the program. The BSP said it picked Hyperledger Fabric as the distributed ledger technology (DLT) for its wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) dubbed as Project Agila. Hyperledger Fabric is similar to blockchain technology, which powers cryptocurrencies, as they are both DLTs. CBDCs are also similar to cryptocurrencies. But while cryptocurrencies are designed to be decentralized with no regulating authority, CBDCs are backed by the central bank and government that issued them. Central banks around the world are looking at developing CBDCs to modernize their financial systems, ward off the threat from cryptocurrencies, and speed up domestic and international payments. &quot;Project Agila aims to orient the BSP and participating financial institutions on CBDC technology solutions that have the potential to enhance the country’s large-value payment system,&quot; the BSP said.The central bank said DLT allows data and transactions to be recorded, shared, and synchronized across a distributed network of different participants. &quot;This would be a useful mechanism for testing Project Agila&#x27;s use case scenario of enabling inter-institutional fund transfers even during off-business hours (i.e., evenings, weekends, and holidays) or when PhilPaSSplus is unavailable,&quot; it said.Financial institutions that are taking part in the project are BDO Unibank, Inc., China Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Union Bank of the Philippines, and Maya Philippines, Inc. Meanwhile, observing financial institutions for succeeding stages are Citibank N. A. Manila, China Bank Savings, Wealth Development Bank Corporation, and SeaBank Philippines, Inc.The BSP said it also collaborated with multilateral organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub, on the technical, risk management, and governance aspects of the pilot CBDC project.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/25/21/china-proposes-global-rules-for-central-bank-digital-currencies">China proposes global rules for central bank digital currencies</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/02/22/bsp-says-digital-currency-an-experiment">BSP says central bank digital currency &#x27;experimental&#x27;, not yet full-blown</a></li></ul>

The BSP said it picked Hyperledger Fabric as the distributed ledger technology (DLT) for its wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency dubbed as Project Agila.