Japanese blockchain startup Soramitsu is exploring new central bank virtual currency (CBDC) programs with a new task on cross-border formula for Asian countries.
Soramitsu will implement Cambodia’s CBDC and fiat anchored stablecoins as a component of its new payment formula in countries such as India, China and Japan and regions such as Southeast Asia.
The new task builds on Soramitsu’s CBDC expertise, its participation in Bakon’s Asian CBDC task in Cambodia, and Laotian kip from Laos, the company announced Aug. 8.
Launched in 2020, Cambodia’s Bakong is a public-private initiative that allows Cambodian citizens to pay at retail outlets or withdraw cash via a mobile app in local currency, riel or US dollar. Since its launch, the adoption of Bakong has spread to countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. At the end of 2022, Bakong had 8. 5 million users and handled about $15 billion in payments.
The report says Soramitsu aims to expand to Southeast Asian countries.
As a component of the project, Soramitsu plans to identify a Japanese stablecoin exchange, which would allow the conversion of countries’ currencies, according to the report. For example, if a Thai user wanted to buy something on a Japanese e-commerce site, according to the report, the payment would be sent in the form of a dollar-denominated Bakong and exchanged into a yen-denominated stablecoin.
“In general, this allocation refers to regulated stablecoins in Japan and other countries, as well as central bank virtual currencies,” a Soramitsu spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
The representative went on to say that Soramitsu will focus on the links between the other CBDCs to make sure the country maintains its own CBDC formula.
“In addition, we are participants of the SORA network and Polkaswap DEX, so we will also explore tactics to use the public and permissionless SORA network for cross-border issuance and CBDC dealing, with token exchange on Polkaswap,” the spokesperson added. .
One of the features of Soramitsu’s planned payment network is an expected relief in transaction fees. According to the company, the relief in fees would be imaginable through the implementation of solid currencies, which can be transferred without going through existing interbank payment networks.
Related: India negotiates cross-border CBDC payments with global central banks
To build the cross-border payments network, Soramitsu teamed up with Tokyo-based virtual company Vivit and Tama University’s Center for Policymaking Strategies. It’s looking to partner with giant ecommerce sites.
The company is also collaborating with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking of Japan and other partners to create the exchange infrastructure.
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