Bank of Japan to Start CBDC Pilot in April

Bank of Japan (BoJ) plans to launch a pilot program to test the digital yen in April 2023. This is announced in a statement.

The aim of the phase is to test the "technical feasibility" of CBDC and extend the experiment to simulate an ecosystem involving companies. No actual transactions are planned during the pilot.

BoJ said it needs to consult with the private sector on alternative data models, architectures for offline payments and other important design elements.

The first phase of experiments with a national digital currency began in Japan in the spring of 2021.

Already in July, Hideki Murai of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said that the government would develop a more detailed CBDC project by the end of 2022.

Later, Haruhiko Kuroda, head of the country's central bank, noted that the regulator would decide whether to issue a digital yen after comprehensive tests.