Taiwan's New Central Bank Chief Eyes Blockchain Boost

Taiwan's central bank is promising to explore how blockchain technology might help improve its operations.

In a rather brief speech at his inauguration ceremony Monday, Yang Chin-long, the new governor of Taiwan's central bank, said his agency will seek to pay closer attention and remain open-minded on the rapid development of financial technology, including Big Data and distributed ledger technology.

Yang further acknowledged that such emerging technologies, while not having a material impact on Taiwan's existing financial system so far, could nonetheless reshape the island's currency policy and its payment industry.

He went on to comment that, during his tenure, the central bank will consider utilizing blockchain to improve the security and efficiency of Taiwan's electronic payment system.

The remarks come as perhaps the first time that the central bank of Taiwan has indicated an interest in applying the nascent technology's benefits to its financial system.

As reported by CoinDesk, in late 2016, a consortium of Taiwanese financial institutions has already been formed to develop consumer-facing payment platforms powered by Microsoft's Azure blockchain-as-a-service platform.

The effort, joined by six financial institutions came under the sandbox regulatory initiative penned by Taiwan's regulators at the same time.

Taiwan currency image via Shutterstock