South Korean internet big companies bid for a chance to participate in a central bank digital currency pilot program

The Bank of Korea plans to test a digital won in various use cases. The bank will select an operator to run a CBDC pilot next month that will test a blockchain-based CBDC system. The top three internet big companies that bid for a chance to participate in CBDC pilot program were Kakao's subsidiary Ground X, Naver-affiliated Line Plus, and SK Group. The bank plans to make a judgment on the digital won pilot project next month. The pilot will run until June 2022, with a budget of 4.96 billion won ($4.3 dollar).

The goal of the pilot is to evaluate the CBDC in a virtual simulation environment using distributed ledger technology. The BoK aims to look into CBDC issuance, redemption, electronic payments and settlement, and the purchase of digital artworks and copyrights as potential use cases.

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