The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan will begin testing the national digital currency in partnership with Ripple, according to the Japanese publication Nikkei.
The San Francisco-based company is integrating its distributed ledger technology into Bhutan’s existing payment system using its CBDC Private Ledger product. During testing, the national digital currency will be used in international and domestic payment transactions.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that his company aims to create a platform that will allow for interoperability between different CBDCs.
At the Ripple Swell webinar for the APAC region, which took place in April 2021, Tashi Yezer, a senior payment officer at the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, said that cooperation with Ripple has been forging for several years. Central Bank Deputy Governor Yanchen Chogeliy expects Ripple-based digital currency to become a “sustainable” payment instrument:
“Our partnership with Ripple demonstrates that CBDC can be an alternative and reliable tool for digital payments in Bhutan.”
The central bank of Bhutan plans a partnership with Ripple to increase public access to financial services by 85%.
In early March, Ripple announced testing of its XRP Ledger product for central banks. It provides a secure, controlled and flexible solution for issuing and managing government cryptocurrencies. Ripple CTO David Schwartz recently announced the concept of sidechains in the XRP Ledger that will allow central banks to build their own networks.
