The Bank of Thailand has issued a stern warning against a privately issued stablecoin pegged to the national currency, the Thai Baht. According to a Bangkok Post report on March 18, the central bank has told citizens that Thai Baht Digital (THT) has no legal assurances or protection and that users could be at risk of cyber theft or money laundering Citing a sixty-year-old law, the central bank's assistant governor of the legal group, Pruettipong Srimachand, stated that any activities involving the stablecoin are considered illegal: “The creation, issuance, usage or circulation of any material or token for money is …

Japan is taking a measured but attentive approach to global interest in central bank digital currency issuance. In his latest remarks published on Tuesday, Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda Haruhiko noted that the institution has not changed its stance and still does not currently have a concrete plan to issue a CBDC. However, this non-commitment does not mean inactivity on the CBDC research and development front by any means. In October 2020, Japan's central bank pledged to begin the first of several testing phases for its own CBDC proof-of-concept. Haruhiko has now confirmed that these are due to begin this …

China’s determination to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the utilization of blockchain technology was evidenced again this week, after the release of the country’s latest five-year development plan. The word “blockchain” was reportedly mentioned for the first time in the 14th of China’s regular five-year plans, which lay out the country’s economic priorities for the period from 2021 to 2025, according to local news outlet Pingwest. China’s exploration into new technology has been unceasing in recent years. From its ongoing scheme to roll out a central bank digital currency to its utilization of digital biometric hardware …

The central bank of Russia is expecting to start pilots for its central bank digital currency in 2022, a senior executive reportedly claimed. Bank of Russia deputy governor Alexey Zabotkin said that the bank is planning to complete a prototype digital ruble by the end of 2021, local news agency Prime reports Wednesday. Zabotkin announced the plans at an online event hosted by Moscow's New Economic School. Zabotkin stated that the prototype will not support “real transactions” but would rather serve as a starting point to build the ecosystem on. “Based on this prototype, including refinement, we will start rolling …

Shanghai’s New World City and New World Daimaru Department Store, and food caterer Taikang Food Store handled thousands of digital yuan transactions over the past weekend, Shanghai Daily reports. As part of the trial, the retailers featured digital yuan payments as part of a sales campaign in conjunction with International Women’s Day. Brand director of Shanghai New World Li Wei said that the firm reached out to commercial banks to offer discounts as part of the campaign. “We have worked to upgrade the digital payment module ahead of the trial program, and we believe it offered extra stimulus for shoppers …

Major South Korean commercial bank Shinhan Bank is looking to collaborate with the country’s central bank on developing a national digital currency. Shinhan Bank has developed a blockchain-based pilot platform for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, in partnership with LG Corporation’s IT services arm, LG CNS, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Monday. Shinhan Bank and LG CNS created a virtual CBDC model where the Bank of Korea issues a CBDC, while other banking institutions like Shinhan Bank act as financial intermediaries. The bank emphasized that CBDC intermediaries would be an integral part of a digital won ecosystem, …

A 44-page report commissioned by CPA Australia delves into the status of central bank digital currency development worldwide, while exploring viable blockchain candidates for hosting CBDCs in the coming years. The report offers up evaluations of the three most transacted cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and XRP — and analyses their suitability (or lack thereof) for use by central banks. Bitcoin’s decentralized network and lack of oversight by banks or governments make it generally unsuitable for use in a national CBDC network, notes the report. Although Bitcoin is still accepted as a medium of exchange the world over, its …

The United Arab Emirates is the world’s sixth-largest oil producer and one of the richest countries in the world, with a gross domestic product per capita of above $43,000 as of 2019, according to the World Bank. As per its “Vision 2021,” Iis petroleum- and natural-gas-reliant economy is committed to sustainable development in order to emerge as the Gulf Cooperation Council’s, or GCC’s, most diversified economy. This includes the digitization of the economy, which has become a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. Related: Not like before: Digital currencies debut amid COVID-19 A green economy for sustainable digitization The first virtual …

Editor’s note Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final installment of Law Decoded, at least with yours truly at the helm. Though someone may pick this newsletter back up at some point, there are no plans to do so now. Taking advantage of the rose-tinted glasses or maybe the graduation goggles that are in effect for this final newsletter, I will be shaking up the format. As last week’s Law Decoded focused on a few long-standing stories in crypto, this week, I wanted to get thematic. As I will no longer be guiding you through the weekly changes in crypto …

India’s central bank has recognized the potential benefits of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, but not without including a few pitfalls. The Reserve Bank of India offered its assessment of CBDCs as part of its report on currency and finance issued on Sunday. As a part of the report, the RBI noted that several countries are exploring the creation of their own sovereign national digital currency. According to the central bank’s report, CBDCs can help to promote financial inclusion and transactional transparency. The RBI also stated that national digital currencies could be useful as an instrument of monetary transmission …

Back in June 2019, social media giant Facebook released the details for a much-talked-about digital currency platform dubbed “Libra.” These days, Libra is known as Diem, with the project undergoing a significant rebranding in a bid to smoothen regulatory wrinkles. A year and a half later, the Diem Association has yet to launch a digital token with regulatory approval from Swiss authorities yet to materialize. Even if Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA, does grant a payment license to the digital currency project, Diem will be debuting its offerings to a global landscape that is significantly more fractured in …

For the past several years, the trade war between China and the U.S. has been at the center of international relations, with technology playing an outsized role. Within crypto, advancing interest in central bank digital currencies has become part of that narrative of geopolitical competition. Many have framed the development of CBDCs in China and the U.S. as a race — in which case, China is clearly closer to launch and, hence, the “winner.” But a race to the finish is a flawed paradigm, and one to which Cointelegraph has contributed its fair share. For the moment, China is actively …