In the coming months, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plans to begin a pilot program for digital currency.
According to the Arab News’s citation of Deputy Government SBP Sima Kamil, the SBP will proceed with the pilot launch of Pakistan’s first digital currency within two months of completing the necessary preparations.
She was quoted as saying that the sandbox, a controlled environment created for testing novel goods, services, or business models in a constrained and supervised manner, would launch in a month or two.
The introduction of the digital currency, according to Kamil, was a component of their five-year plan, “SBP Vision 2028.”
Despite significant investors parking their money in digital tenders, the banking regulator has been hesitant to legalize digital currency within the nation, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Pakcoin, OneCoin, and DasCoin, ultimately declaring them illegal.
However, the idea to launch its own digital currency was conceived by the banking regulator. The deputy governor of SBP clarified the distinction between cryptocurrencies and CBDCs.
“In comparison to cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are more secure and are meant to supplement traditional electronic payment methods and existing physical currency. The digital currencies, which are based on blockchain technology (DLT), are designed to offer a safe and effective way to carry out digital transactions.”
A small number of nations have so far launched CBDCs, and other nations and central banks are studying them.
Only Nigeria, Jamaica, and the Bahamas have so far launched their CBDCs, according to the Atlantic Council CBDC tracker, while other nations such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, France, Ghana, Canada, and Uruguay have launched their pilots.
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