People’s Bank of China and UAE central bank join Hong Kong–Thailand CBDC bridge project
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand announced the joining of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Central Bank of the UAE to the second phase of the CBDC Bridge project. The project was previously known as Inthanon-LionRock. Under the initiative, a proof of concept will be developed for using distributed ledger technology in real-time cross-border multi-currency payments. The creators of the new 'bridge' plan to expand the project by attracting more monetary regulators, primarily from Asia. Organisers expect that, through joint efforts, cross-border transfers will be more efficient, cheaper, and less complex in terms of regulatory compliance. If successful, the 'bridge' could be used in international trade settlements and capital market operations. Earlier, the HKMA and the Bank of Thailand had determined that the CBDC would be based on {{AOPEN_1}}a solution based on the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization{{ACLOSE_1}}, and their partner would be the Ethereum studio ConsenSys. In December, ForkLog reported that the HKMA was discussing with the PBOC {{AOPEN_2}}testing the digital yuan in cross-border payments{{ACLOSE_2}}.