According to Eli Remolona, the governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines is moving closer to introducing a non-blockchain central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the next two years.
The proposal, revealed on February 12, is in line with worldwide trends in which regulators are investigating digital tokens as a stable value holder and a secure payment option instead of the more erratic cryptocurrencies.
Remolona offered insights into why she followed some other central banks’ lead and went with a wholesale CBDC model instead of one using blockchain technology.
Remolona noted that central banks have tried and failed to use blockchain technology for this kind of thing. Banks will be positioned as the only participants in the wholesale CBDC model, and retail banking activities will build upon this.
This strategy is anticipated to improve the effectiveness and security of both local and international payment networks by providing banks with a dependable method for interbank settlements in real time
Remolona claims that the BSP chose to concentrate on wholesale CBDC because it enables real-time payment systems and provides a risk-free banking option.
He did, however, recognize that there are drawbacks to retail CBDC, including the possibility of disintermediation and the possibility of increasing the central bank’s power in the financial system.
It is verified that the effort to create a wholesale CBDC is feasible within Remolona’s term, with a two-year implementation schedule. The BSP attempts to imitate effective methods from other central banks that have dabbled in such endeavors.
Remolona emphasized the progress made by CBDC initiatives worldwide, such as China’s digital yuan and Sweden’s e-krona, which are mainly concerned with retail payments.
The Philippine Payment and Settlement System, an infrastructure run by the BSP itself, will serve as the technological foundation for the Philippine CBDC, doing away with the requirement for blockchain technology.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) results, which imply that wholesale CBDC could improve security against fraud and cyberattacks through more dependable digital record-keeping, lend credence to this action.
The investigation of CBDCs is still gaining steam on a global scale. For example, by adding offline features, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is aggressively trying to increase the reach of the digital rupee.
By extending digital currency use to areas with spotty internet connectivity, this initiative seeks to promote greater financial inclusion. Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Shaktikanta Das stressed the need to introduce these skills gradually, with pilot programs intended to span a broad range of contexts.