According to a report by Central News Agency, the Central Bank of Taiwan (CBT) issued a written report on the “Planning for Digital Currency Issuance and the Digital Transformation of Currency” to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan last Sunday (7th). The report pointed out that the issuance of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) involves a wide range of stakeholders, and it is necessary to conduct extensive and cautious communication in advance. It is expected that several public hearings, briefings, and forums will be held in 2025, and the legal framework will also be discussed.
In the written report, the central bank revealed its plans for digital currency. The report stated that the central bank has built a prototype platform for CBDC and plans to issue it in a two-tier architecture. During the initial issuance period, CBDC will not accrue interest but will have interest-bearing functionality. The wallets will be divided into anonymous and registered wallets. In addition, privacy and personal data protection, cybersecurity management, and various retail payment functions will be considered.
The central bank has been researching CBDC since 2019 and has completed two phases of research experiments. It is currently in the prototype construction phase, synchronized with advanced countries worldwide. The institution emphasized that promoting CBDC is not an international competition. Taiwan has diverse and convenient payment methods, so the attitude towards issuing CBDC is more cautious. The main expectation is for CBDC to meet the demand for digital payments from the public and align with the government’s digital policy development goals in order to achieve substantial benefits.
According to reports, the central bank stated that it will use tokenization technology to digitally transform wholesale central bank currency and commercial bank currency to support the development of various asset tokens. The central bank is currently planning the concept verification of wholesale CBDC, using it as a settlement asset for asset tokenization, and combining it with bank deposit token functionality to jointly construct the future digital currency system. However, the central bank has expressed its position on digital assets, stating that virtual assets such as Bitcoin and stablecoins are not part of the digital currency system.
Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long went to the Legislative Yuan today to make a special report, but the agenda did not proceed smoothly. Since the Finance Committee meeting is held on Mondays and Wednesdays, with Mondays being a holiday, it does not affect the Wednesday agenda. It is expected that the meeting will continue on Wednesday morning.
Source:
Central News Agency
