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.

See also: Bank of Japan Forms New Team to Explore Central Bank Digital Currency