Blockchain
Cambodian CBDC Developer to Build Palau Bond Market on Blockchain: Report
A Japanese fintech developer will build a blockchain-based bond market gateway for Palau, aiming to launch a trial in 2024 and a full launch the following year.
Japanese fintech developer Suramitsubest known for developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for Cambodia, is intended to build a Blockchain-gateway to the bond market based on the Pacific island nation of Palau, Nikkei He learned.
Soramitsu won the contract and plans to introduce the market on a trial basis in fiscal 2024, with a full launch scheduled for the following year, allowing the Palauan government to issue bonds to individual investors and efficiently manage principal and interest payments, according to the report.
The total cost of the project is estimated at several hundred million yen ($1.2 million to $5.6 million), less than half the cost of a non-blockchain alternative, people familiar with the matter said. The project has reportedly received support from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, with Japan’s foreign and finance ministries providing strategic and management advice on the project.
Soramitsu’s successful development of Cambodia’s CBDC in 2020 has boosted its reputation, with the digital currency’s popularity soaring, with over 10 million accounts opened by December 2023, representing 60% of Cambodia’s population. Following this, Cambodia’s central bank governor Chea Serey indicated intends to expand the reach of its CBDC internationally, particularly through collaboration with UnionPay International, the Chinese card payment service, and other global partners.
While Soramitsu’s work in Cambodia has been well received, the long-term popularity of CBDCs remains to be seen. As of late June, crypto.news reported a sharp drop in activity in India’s digital currency, the e-rupee, after local banks stopped artificially inflating its values.
According to people familiar with the matter, the Reserve Bank of India managed to hit the 1 million retail transaction milestone last December only after the metrics were artificially infiltrated by local banks, which offered incentives to retail users and paid a portion of the bank’s employees’ salaries via the digital currency.