You’ve probably heard that blockchain technology is going to revolutionize the Banking sector and also take the power away from Central Banks. In reality, Blockchain is being adopted by the very central banks it was meant to displace - in a future where ledger technology disrupts finance as we know it.

Today, we are exploring some of the beneficial implications that the technology has to offer financial institutions. The idea & hype behind central bank issuing out a national back Cryptocurrency has led to pondering as to whether governments are keen on issuing out a digital version of a national currency or implement the technology to streamlines certain processes.

National central banks are independently studying blockchain technology or are coordinating research-sharing with consortiums (R3, Hyperledger & EEA) and startups. Private companies like Blocko & RippleLabs are helping institutional banks catch up with the hype surrounding DLT as government agencies seek industry-leading experts to collaborate in research-sharing.

Here is a list of the countries around the world where the government is actively engaged in research, testing and deploying Blockchain technology.
document source

---

Singapore

There is a high possibility that Singapore’s central bank could be the first country to issue a national blockchain-based digital currency. The project dubbed UBIN is led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore who have expressed their keen interests in studying and experimenting with distributed ledger technology. Sinagapore plans to Blockchain technology for the clearing and settlement of payments whilst also considering of tokenizing the Singapore dollar.
document source

---

South Korea

The Bank of Korea is speeding up their progress by research-sharing with local startups and the government is experimenting with Blockchain technology to replicate Interbank payments and settlement. With the help of Blocko, a South Korean private company that specializes in blockchain-as-a-service solution, financial regulators are indicating the country is slowly beginning to change it’s once hostile stance toward digital currency and is now realizing the potential implications of DLT. The company Blocko is also supporting a public blockchain initiative dubbed Aergo, the project that is meant provide a decentralized solution and is based on the same technology Coinstack. The proprietary software ‘’Coinstack’’ is being utilized by the Bank of Korea to test-pilot a system that can transact micropayments in a more efficient & cost-effective manner. The regional government of Gyeonggi-do has also successfully trialed a voting system based on blockchain technology.
document source

---

England

In March 2018 the Bank of England has made the announcement that the country’s central bank is openly studying a proof-of-concept (PoC) to determine whether distributed ledger technology has the means of providing potential use-cases. By introducing a working paper that evaluates a Proof-of-concept, the central bank has hinted that it may be considering of issuing its own national digital currency in the near future. The country’s bank is interested in opening a new payment system, a initiative that is focused on helping upcoming fintech firms process transaction using a blockchain-based Network. The Bank of England has also in the past worked with R3, a company dedicated to building open source & private blockchain solutions.
document source

---

Saudi Arabia

Known for being the Blockchain oasis of the UAE, Dubai citizens will soon be able to pay school fees, utility bills and retail purchases using digital currencies. A state-backed subsidiary of the department of economic development plans to release the currency dubbed Emcash, a move touted to be sign and indication that UAE has a rather positive stance on adopting this disruptive technology. While it remains unclear if the Saudi Arabia is in a hurry to introduce a national digital currency any time soon, the government seem to be pushing for regulating Cryptocurrencies for the time being.
document source

---

Kuwait

The national bank of Kuwait has a strategic partnership with Ripple, a project focused on connecting banks, exchanges and remittance services. In the Middle East and Asia, remittances are big business, with region relying heavily on slow & costly micro-payment transfer using traditional banking. Thus, the Kuwait’s central bank has formed a strategic partnership with Ripple to help provide a more efficient means of sending & receiving money abroad. Up to date, Ripple has over 100 banks that will utilize RippleNet, a network that of high-profile banks and financial institutions.
document source

---

China

The Chinese government is known for being slow to adopting any new technology, however the state owned banks such as the Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China have taken keen interests in blockchain solution in the past 2 years. The state owned banks are using distributed ledger technology for cross-bank and cross-board loan issuance intended for small businesses. Whilst Chinese government has negative stance towards digital currencies such as Bitcoin, in the background civil workers have begun experimenting with the technology.
document source

---

Japan

The bank of Japan has confirmed that is collaborating with the European central bank to explore how Distributed ledger technology could be applied to financial market infrastructures. The project is called Stella, is an initiative to study whether blockchain technology can be used to create a new securities settlement mechanisms. While central bank of Japan has no plan on issuing out national cryptocurrency citing financial stability concerns, the bank is currently testing Blockchain technology to determine potential use-cases.
document source

---

Canada

The Bank of Canada is looking at the key questions around the design of a digital currency and the issues surrounding such an idea. Remaining skeptical of implementing new technology, the central bank has made a rather positive statement claiming that Canada would benefit if it where to adopt Blockchain in regards to increase of economic gains. The country’s central bank remains bullish with reports claiming that the digital backed alternative to cash would essentially improve Canada’s economic welfare. Project Jasper is an joint project between R3 & Bank of Canada that focuses on understanding how distributed ledger technology might transform the future of payments starting with high-value clearing settlement.

document source

---

---

Note: This document with all the information in it is shared here to boost our knowledge of blockchain and crypto ecosystem, the original document can be found in document source, I have no ownership right over the document.

---

---

THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG TODAY!!

---