Tag: peso

Philippines Central Bank Considering Issuing its own CBDC

Following major Asian economies including China and Japan — the Philippines through its Central Bank locally known as Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has announced that it is considering issuing its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). As a way to show its commitment to this cause, the BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno noted that the bank has set up a committee to study digital currencies and its policy implications.

With the committee billed to make its first report next month, the governor said no decision would be made until the result of the study is out. In ascertaining the position of the Philippines with respect to the potential of a CBDC to make fiat currencies obsolete, the governor said “Cryptocurrency for us has always been beyond the asset itself but more on the blockchain technology that underpins it” after noting that he sees no viable demand for the Philippino Peso to fade.

Philippines’ Growing Blockchain Strides

The recently concluded Philippines Fintech Festival 2020 showcased the yearning by interest groups in the country to leverage the growing digital age boom. The Philippines is known to be an emerging investment hub, a position that the government is hoping to enhance through blockchain. In the recent scheme of the blockchain ecosystem trend, the Filipino government made history by becoming the first to leverage blockchain technology to issue government based retail treasury bonds in Asia and around the world.

The digital currency level of awareness in the Philippines is growing, as BTC scams are creeping in as prevalent in regions with high cryptocurrency activities. The Philippines government is positively geared towards supporting local startups to embrace blockchain technology with its partnership with BCB Blockchain, a Singaporean technology firm. The collaboration will help nurture startups towards the development of smart cities as well as blockchain-based applications.

As evident in nations at the advanced stages of their CBDC project development particularly China, the Philippines is gradually preparing all sectors of its economy towards the gradual switch to a blockchain dominant digital economy.

Image source: blockchain.news

Philippines Central Bank To Research Further Before Launching its CBDC

The governor of the Philippines Central Bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Benjamin Diokno has recommended further research with respect to the Philippine’s plans toward the development of a central bank digital currency dubbed the Digital Peso.

As reported by Business Inquirer on Oct 22, Governor Diokno gave his recommendation to research further following the report of the central bank in its preliminary CBDC study.

The central bank governor noted that the “The initiative is aimed at enabling the BSP to keep pace with, and to enhance its readiness to adjust and evolve amid rapid technological developments,” and from the current situation of events, he said that the development of a Digital Peso may not be actualized in his own tenure.

Nonetheless, Diokno stated that more research would be done in the main time to strengthen the current payment system while productive consultations will be pursued with other nation’s central banks particularly though who has advanced in their own CBDC research. In addition, Diokno weighed in on the longstanding debate of superiority between current digital currencies and a CBDC and he emphasized that a CBDC is superior as it would be backed by law as an alternative medium of exchange to the underlying fiat currency.

The BSP in expressing its interest to pilot a Digital Peso inaugurated a committee to understudy CBDCs based on technical feasibility and policy implications. While the committee’s work would be ongoing, the Phillipines central bank will be focusing on developing the human capital it needs through workshops as well as calls for technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amongst others.

As most nations are gearing up to debut a potential CBDC as a means to bolster or strengthen their payment system, a dire need to get the system right given each country’s challenges is pertinent. The Central Bank of the Bahamas, credited to be the first to launch a CBDC it dubbed The Sand Dollars noted that it has perfected the system to work offline in the advent of a natural disaster.

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