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During a global rush towards central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, Cambodia officially launched a blockchain-based platform for digital money transactions called Bakong.
“Bakong, a payment and money transfer service through banks or microfinance institutions, was set up on the initiative of the National Bank of Cambodia,” a Dap-News article said on Oct. 28. The central bank of the Asian country has partnered with a number of entities on the project.
Bakong secured the first involvement of Cambodian financial giant PRASAC in October 2019. In January 2020, Cambodia’s central bank planned to launch the platform, revealing the system as a closed-loop venture.
“Bakong is a new and modern payment tool that allows customers to make interbank transactions and bill payments easily, quickly, securely and free of charge,” said Sony Say, executive vice president of PRASAC, quoted by Dap-News.
“I hope the official launch of the Bakong system today will help promote social well-being and also prevent the spread of [Covid-19] providing seamless electronic person-to-person payments, “said Cambodian Central Bank CEO Chea Serey, as reported by The Phnom Penh Post on Oct. 28.” Online payments can also be made via the Bakong system, which also offers alternative options for … transactions such as deposits, withdrawals, sending and receiving [via] e-wallet. “
The Phnom Penh Post article clarified, however:
“In response to growing national and international concerns, Serey stressed that Bakong is not a central bank digital currency.”
While the news does not definitively confirm the presence of an actual CBDC, the global race to each country’s version of that asset remains a hot topic. The US has taken a slower approach when it comes to a national digital currency, aiming for accuracy over speed.
