The Bank of Korea is advancing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment to test real-world usage in existing financial systems, local media outlets reported Monday.
According to a report from ET News, the South Korean central bank's CBDC pilot is entering a new phase involving core account systems in participating commercial banks.
In the new phase, commercial banks would establish e-wallets, vouchers, and blockchain-based infrastructure to manage the CBDC for commercial usage in connection with the existing core banking system.
In the previous phase, the BOK distributed pilot CBDCs in deposit tokens through e-wallets provided by participating banks. Participating consumers experimented with using those deposit tokens for payments.
Now, participants will be allowed to use the CBDC deposit tokens in existing banking systems for transactions and settlements. The second phase will also include CBDC pilots to replace government subsidies or policy funds with digital vouchers, according to the reports.
