Philippine Central Bank to Pursue Digital Currency Project | Project CBDCPh

In what could be marked as a groundbreaking development in the Philippine digital economy, Benjamin Diokno, the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has announced that they will be pursuing a pilot central bank digital currency (CBDC) program called “Project CBDCPh.”

Project CBDCPh

BSP’s CBDC pilot project will involve a limited implementation model that allows them to gain real-world knowledge and organizational capacity. In addition, as far as CBDCs are concerned, the project aims to identify use cases that would allow BSP to fix foreseen problems in the national payment system.

This follows a study by the BSP in which they assessed the possible impact of CBDCs on the country’s financial system. They were able to identify wholesale use cases, which gave BSP the confidence needed to pursue this further.

The Philippine central bank governor has acknowledged that multiple countries have already launched CBDCs, finished pilot testing, developed proof-concepts, or begun research on the concept. This provides plenty of room for international regulators to formulate relevant frameworks on how to adopt CBDCs into the global financial market as a whole.

Diokno has mentioned ways that a CBDC could help the general public:

Payment efficiencies, universal accessibility, cost reductions in operations
Big potential to open up the economy through scale and impact
Wide-scale, account-targeted (i.e. personalized) assistance programs
Cross-border money transfers and remittances

On the other side, he also mentioned the following challenges for the country’s financial sector and BSP:

Financial inclusion has always been multidimensional
Possible legal issues, especially for retail CBDCs held by the general public
A possible need to change the BSP Charter to accommodate said change
Correspondingly, a need for authorities to build skills and technological capacity to adequately implement and manage the risks associated with CBDCs

What does it mean for us in the P2E space?

General sentiment towards cryptocurrencies here in the Philippines appears progressive compared to other countries. Especially with the widespread adoption of NFTs and P2E gaming guilds. BSP’s CBDC research is a major plus. Having digital technologies play a key role in the nation’s economy may be a future prospect.

While this may not necessarily mean that the Philippines will adopt a digital currency, it shows a more positive attitude. And this is, by extension, is also a win for the P2E/NFT gaming sector.

With all things considered, are you looking forward to seeing the results of this pilot test? What do you think about the future of CBDCs in the Philippines?

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