Thailand's Central Bank Taps German Payments Giant to Design CBDC Prototype

The hiring of a large international technology provider signals the bank is on schedule for launching its digital currency.

AccessTimeIconJun 2, 2021 at 3:00 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:04 p.m. UTC
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The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has hired German technology company Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) prototype.

  • BoT chose G+D for the proof-of-concept retail CBDC project, according to a procurement announcement on Sunday.
  • The bank has allocated 10 million baht (US$320,000) for the project, which includes taxes, transportation, registration fees and other expenses.
  • G+D generated revenue exceeding €2.3 billion (US$2.7 billion) in 2020.
  • The hiring of an international technology provider signals the bank is moving in line with its three- to five-year target for rolling out a CBDC.
  • The bank announced in early April that it had begun accepting public feedback on its retail CBDC, with an end date of June 15.
  • Retail CBDCs differ from wholesale CBDCs in that they are digital extensions of a nation's currency, while wholesale CBDCs refer to interbank settlement infrastructure.
  • G+D and BoT had not responded to a CoinDesk request for comment by the time of publication.

UPDATE (June 2, 18:36): Updated to reflect that G+D's yearly revenue was in EUR, not USD.

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