30 Japan Firms to Collaborate on Private Digital Yen: Reuters

A group of Japanese companies has said it will develop and test a private digital currency that would work alongside cash.

Reuters reported Thursday that about 30 firms from sectors such as telecoms, utilities and retail will carry out the trials in 2021.
The digital yen would be built on a common settlement platform and issued by banks during the trials, later possibly being issued by other entities.
“We don’t want to create another silo-type platform. What we want to do is to create a framework that can make various platforms mutually compatible,” Hiromi Yamaoka, chair of the group and formerly an executive at the Bank of Japan, told Reuters.
The overarching aim would be to encourage people in the cash-loving country to use a digital form of money, the group said.
The Bank of Japan, which is the nation's central bank, has also said it would work on a national digital currency and hold tests next year.

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