The National Bank of Kingdom of cambodia (NBC) continues progressing with its key banking concern digital currency- (CBDC)-like initiative known equally Bakong, disclosing several projection milestones.

NBC's manager general and the Bakong project lead Chea Serey said in a Wednesday interview with The Nikkei that Bakong's electronic wallet reached 200,000 users in June, doubling from three months earlier. Based on blockchain technology, the Bakong payment and coin transfer service was originally launched by the NBC in October 2022.

The digital coin project has amassed nearly six million users in the outset half of 2022, including those reached indirectly through member bank mobile apps, recording a total of i.4 million transactions worth about $500 million, Serey noted.

The official disclosed that the NBC is currently exploring cross-border transactions through Bakong, closely working with Thailand's central bank and Malaysia's largest banking company, Maybank. Serey explained that the cantankerous-border Bakong transactions would provide Cambodian people in strange countries with a "condom and efficient fashion to ship coin to their families." She noted that the new payment method would be beneficial for many Cambodian women migrating to Malaysia.

Serey also reportedly said that Bakong's launch has significantly increased the utilize of Cambodia'southward national currency riel, which is function of the country's dual-currency system alongside the United States dollar. All the same, the digital coin project alone will not exist able to switch Cambodia from a U.S. dollar-based economy to the riel, she added.

"There are other policies that need to be in place, like having a stable exchange rate and inflation rate," Serey stated, concluding that the mission of Bakong is to "increase the usage of the local currency," with the long-term goal to "solely employ" the country's local currency. According to data by Wall Street Journal, the U.S. dollar is currently used for ninety% of fiscal transactions in Cambodia.

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Additionally, the NBC director general expressed a skeptical stance on Bitcoin (BTC), the world'south most-valued cryptocurrency. Serey said that the crypto manufacture needs regulation and consumer protection measures to avert the consequences of volatile prices, stating: "There are no fundamentals, and if you were to allow investors to go into this, who is going to accept responsibleness when the price crashes?"

Adult by NBC in collaboration with Japanese blockchain technology company Soramitsu, Bakong allows Cambodian citizens to pay at stores or ship money through a mobile app, supporting settlements and remittances in riel or U.S. dollar. At the projection's launch, Serey emphasized that Bakong should not be referred to as a CBDC but rather a payment and money transfer service.