The CBDC project of Thailand is on its way to progress. The Central Bank of Thailand plans to start pilot tests in the second quarter of 2022. The bank will be accepting public comments on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) by June 15, 2021. Endorsed by the bank in a press release on Friday.

Central Bank of Thailand Decides CBDC Will be Retail

Thailand’s CBDC will be retail; meaning it will be for use by the general public. Bank of Thailand (BoT) further hypothesizes that stablecoins pose a huge threat to the monetary and financial sovereignty of the country. Explaining the key objective of the CBDCs, the bank demonstrated that it aims to provide its citizens greater access to more efficient and secure financial services. 

According to the assistant governor of the financial markets operations group at the BoT Vachira Arromdee, “the digital currency will not have any impact on the country’s financial system.” he was present at a briefing on Friday.

However, BoT is not in a rush to roll out its retail digital currency. In this vein, Arromdee indicated that “the digital currency project could be implemented over the next three to five years.”

Traction Increase of CBDC In Asia

CBDCs are now quite popular in Asia. Overall, China is leading in digital currency efforts. In particular, the country has already started pilot tests of its digital yuan in Beijing, Chengdu, Suzhou, and Shenzhen. Although the exact date for the launch has not been announced yet.    

Talking about Japan, a major skeptic of central bank-issued digital currencies is also pushing forward with its CBDC project. 

Additionally, in February this year, several major banks in Asia unite to develop a cross-border CBDC. Per the announcement, the project is known as the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (m-CBDC). The main objective of this association is to jointly create a CBDC prototype using the DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology).

This includes the Bank of England, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China, and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.