After a second successful proof-of-concept (PoC) experiment, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced that its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project has been officially launched in April.

Plans to establish and launch the digital yen has been the table for more than a year, and a recent report from the central bank of the Asian nation notes that the second PoC phase tested the technology to be used for implementing upper limits on CBDC holdings. According to the bank, the technology “safeguards ensuring the stability of the financial system” should there becomes a case of a sudden shift of funds from traditional bank accounts to the national digital currency.

In the backend, testing covered the database language and ledger design, while a flexible-value token model was also tested. The latest experiment assumed 100,000 users with five intermediaries, with loads of 500 and 3,000 transactions per second being trialed.

The nation’s CBDC project has launched on schedule, and Japan’s central financier is looking to create a CBDC forum to gain insight from private businesses. The BOJ is set to make a final decision regarding the issuance of a CBDC by the year 2026.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-launches-digital-yen-pilot-project-after-second-successful-proof-of-concept

https://watcher.guru/news/japan-digital-yen-cbdc-pilot-launched-on-schedule

https://www.boj.or.jp/en/paym/digital/dig230529a.pdf