The Bank of Thailand (BOT) intends to take more time to complete the development of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The monetary policy regulator aims to ensure that this version of the national fiat will offer additional benefits to the country’s financial system under sufficient risk management.
The Bank of Thailand is collaborating with three financial institutions and some 10,000 retail users to conduct limited-scale tests of its digital currency in real-life applications. As part of the pilot project, the CBDC will be used for cash-like payments for goods and services during the trial phase expected to begin at the end of this year. The BOT is also considering innovative use cases and new financial services.
In parallel, the central bank of Thailand has been also working on the development of a wholesale digital currency as a participant in the Mbridge project, along with the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong, the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates, the People’s Bank of China and the Bank of International Settlements. The multiple CBDC distributed ledger platform is designed to facilitate cross-border payments with state-issued digital currencies. The group has already completed the project’s first pilot.