The Bank of Thailand will be conducting a pilot program for a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) at the end of 2022, Fintech Singapore reported.
The central bank will be cooperating with the private sector to further retail CBDC development and to test the system through real-life applications. However, the trials will be limited to about 10,000 retail users.
The central bank also clarified that it has no plans to issue a retail CBDC at this time.
The pilot program will be in two phases, with the first phase analyzing the CBDC’s efficiency in real-life scenarios, such as paying for goods and services, and is slated to run between the end of 2022 to mid-2023.
The second phase aims to develop innovative use cases for CBDCs and to help the central bank create a design that fits the needs of the country. This includes running a hackathon, where winners will receive mentorships from participants of Thailand’s previous CBDC program, Project Inthanon.
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Editing by Miguel Cordon and Jaclyn Tiu
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