South Korea is gearing up to launch a pilot program for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which will engage 100,000 participants, as reported by local media sources.
The Bank of Korea, in collaboration with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, plans to conduct this three-month pilot in the fourth quarter of 2024. Participants will have the opportunity to make purchases using deposit tokens issued by commercial banks in the form of CBDC, as detailed by the Korea Times.
The Bank of Korea highlights that implementing a CBDC could address the issues of high transaction fees and lengthy settlement times linked to government voucher systems for various services, including childcare payments. Additionally, the Korea Exchange is set to play a role in this initiative by integrating the digital currency into a simulation platform for carbon emissions trading, according to the same report.