As part of the collaboration, Societe Generale Forge will continue to grow it’s achievements such as the issuance of a 100 million Euro bond, a security token built on the Ethereum blockchain back in 2019. It is also involved or one of the partners picked by Banque de France, the Central Bank of France in experimenting it’s work in building a Central Bank Digital Currency.

“We are pleased to partner with ConsenSys, a company who is a key player in the development of distributed ledger technology globally and offers many of the infrastructure and development tools used by the blockchain community.” Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of Societe Generale – Forge, noted.

Involvement  In Other CBDC Projects

ConsenSys is involved in a lot of partnerships with plans of developing a Central Bank digital currency (CBDC).  The blockchain firm was awarded the contract to square-head the second implementation phase of project Ithanon-Lionrock,  a project that involves building a cross-border payment network between Hong Kong and Thailand though it’s own CBDC.

It has also been involved in the project Ubin,  a Singapore’s Central Bank  project and the South African Central Bank’s project called khokha.

 “We have high regard for the accomplishments of Societe Generale – Forge and are proud to be working with them. ConsenSys is committed to advances in the CBDC space and has assisted six central banks around the world on CBDC projects.” Ken Timsit, Global Head of Enterprise Solutions at ConsenSys, said.

“They don’t belong to the same dimension. WeChat and Alipay are wallets, while the digital yuan is the money in the wallet,” said Mu Changchun, the head of the research institute for digital currency at the People’s Bank of China. He spoke in Shanghai at the 2nd Bund Summit, co-organised by the China Finance 40 Forum.

Access to the digital yuan is through an app that some customers may choose to use instead of private mobile wallets. Wang Leilei also disclosed that participants interested in the pilot run in Shenzhen earlier this month were asked to download a specific app for the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP).

“If the digital money is to be allocated through the app, some people may switch to the app, while others may transfer it to WeChat or Alipay. It depends on consumers and the use case,” Wang said.

Mu Changchun also stated that they still had to deal with a major age-old problem similar to physical cash, and that is counterfeiting. He revealed that they have seen counterfeit digital yuan wallets on the market although he didn’t go in details.

Currently, the bank is running it’s first DCEP trials and is conducting this with institutions and various merchants in China’s Southern tech hub of Shenzhen. They also recently gave out 10million yuan worth $1.5million recently receiving through the lottery to over 47,500 people.  It was awarded in the form of “red packets” with each containing 200 yuan. Individuals who got this yuan could actually spend this in the approved designated shops. Over 1.9milliom reportedly signed up in order to take part in the giveaway.

The DCEP operates in two phases. The first involves the issuing of the digital yuan done by the Central Bank, the second involves the designated institutions such as commercial banks, which is distributing the currency to users.

The CBDC [central bank digital currency] test system can be seen as the process of actually circulating cash,” a Bank of Korea official told Yonhap. The central bank would reportedly use blockchain technology to manage CBDC test transaction details.

The bank would be in charge of issuing and redemption of the digital currency while the private Financial institutions would be in charge of the  distribution as reported by Yonhap.

“The CBDC will be issued and circulated in the virtual world and we are going to test a number of transaction scenarios under a variety of circumstances,” an official said.

The bank of Korea stated that the test phase is the final part of the three- step pilot program.

Phase one saw the designing and checking of technology which ended in July. Phase two focused on analyzing related processes and seeking outside consulting.

The Central Bank has also stated that the testing of the Pilot program is not a confirmation that it will definitely launch an actual digital currency and that they are merely testing the waters.

The Journey to creating its own pilot program for their Central Bank Digital Currency started in April and Plans to run until December 2021.

The NEM-Blockchain based coin would allow citizens or individuals within and outside Lithuania to test new technologies pertaining to finance and that too, in a safe space. LBCOIN currently houses 6 digital tokens and physical collector coins. 

“The digital coin is a striking illustration of what we have achieved in just a few years following our strategic decision to take a firm path towards financial and payment innovation. It serves as a bridge that brings together classical numismatics and rapidly evolving financial technologies. I have no doubt that LBCOIN will strengthen Lithuania’s role as the regional fintech hub,” said Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.

The Bank issued 4,000 LBCOINS which is 24,000 Digital coins and 4,000 silver collector coins. LBCOIN is dedicated to 20 signatories of the Act of Independence, each coin features the 20 signatories and belongs to the 6 signatories (Priests, presidents, diplomats, industrialists, academics, municipal servants). 

“Digital money is inevitable in the digital economy. Today, LBCOIN is what allows people in Lithuania and around the globe to test new technologies in a safe environment, e.g. go through all authentication procedures remotely, open an e-wallet, swap digital tokens with other collectors or transfer them to the public NEM network. At the same time, this also allows us to get the know‑how in issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which in turn should benefit the central bank community and the euro area as a whole,” said Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.

How to Get the Coin

The coin is available for purchase at the LBCOIN e-shop and currently will be limited to a one person to 1 LBCOIN protocol after the first 6 days of sales. For every LBCOIN purchased, collectors get 6 randomly selected digital tokens which could be exchanged for a physical collector coin, sent as a gift, swapped or stored on the Nem Wallet.

“The central bank is already using CBDC for financial transactions with some big businesses”- Said Vachira Arromdee, BOT assistant governor. 

They plan to start using the cryptocurrency for transactions with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and also expand the use to the general public after careful consideration. 

“The central bank is also thinking about expanding use of the cryptocurrency to the general public, but a comprehensive study must be completed before taking such action.” 

She also noted that the CBDC is not the same as Bitcoin or any other digital currency with a volatile market backed by speculation. The CBDC will function as a stable currency backed by tangible assets such as the country’s international reserve.

The Central Bank of Ghana had previously established a Fintech and Innovation office to supervise and promote development within the country of Ghana, the Bank has had to adapt it’s standards and structure where the need arises in the payment sector. 

The central Bank has always had an eye on the Digital payment system. Earlier before 2019, the payments sector was managed from a unit within the banks banking department, as the mobile money sector began to grow and  expand, the need for a payment department arose. This led to the subsequent establishment of the Payment Systems Department in 2016, this department was to ensure an effective payment system amongst other things. 

In 2019, the Bank of Ghana authorized Ghana Commercial Bank to issue out e-money and also announced it’s interest in developing a CBDC. 

Ernest Addison, the governor of Bank of Ghana stated that the CBDC development would be followed up in a sandbox and with the possibility of issuing an e-cedis in the near future. 

Speaking on how far Bank of Ghana (BoG) has worked to date, Opoku-Afari said “ Bank of Ghana has consistently demonstrated leadership and foresight in creating the enabling environment for competitive, innovative and inclusive development of the financial sector.