Japan is accelerating its Digital Yen Launch Project (CBDC). The Central Bank decided to develop and test a token using the same mechanism that Sweden had previously chosen.
In April 2023, the Japanese regulator plans to start testing the digital version of the yen and attract retail and corporate users to it. This was announced last Friday by the head of the Central Bank, Shirichi Uchida.
According to him, the tests will begin after the regulator completes the formation of the CBDC concept, which it has been working on since 2021.
The Central Bank wants to check how, from a technical point of view, the mechanism for paying for goods and services using a token will work.
The regulator expects to present the final version of the design of the digital yen only after consultations with the expert community are completed, Shinichi Uchida said.
In November 2022, the media reported that the three largest Japanese banks would take part in the CBDC trials.
Regional banks also announced their readiness to process transactions with the token in a pilot mode.
