Japan is joining a growing list of countries exploring the possibility of adopting a digital currency, with the country’s central bank, the Bank of Japan (BoJ), announcing that it would launch a pilot to test a “digital yen” in April.
There’s never a shortage of news relating to Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)! Starting in April 2023, Japan and Russia will begin a pilot of their digital yen and digital ruble, respectively. This comes as more than 20 nations also seek to begin a pilot of their CBDC this year and over 100 other nations are actively looking into a CBDC of their own.
As of December last year, 114 countries are actively considering rolling out a CBDC, up from 35 countries in May 2020, according to a report by Atlantic Council…Apart from China, Hong Kong and Thailand, more than 20 countries, including Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Ghana, will continue or begin in the pilot stage in 2023. (TechCrunch)
According to CoinDesk, part of the reason Russia is moving along with its CBDC is to maneuver around the United States’ economic influence over it, “Russia’s central bank first proposed a CBDC project in October 2020 when it published a consultation paper outlining potential designs of the digital ruble. In later comments, the bank said the project can help decrease the Russian economy’s dependency on the U.S. dollar and mitigate the impact of foreign sanctions on the country since its invasion of Ukraine.” (CoinDesk)
Despite the varying reasons we’re seeing for the pursuit of a CBDC – whether it be due to the fear of being left behind or wanting to detach from the West – it further contributes to this CBDC race. This increased rush towards digital currency has been something I’ve covered extensively these past few years and even dubbed the “CBDC race”.
- China’s Digital Yuan causing US Lawmakers to Speed up Efforts Towards a Digital Dollar
- Biden Administration Supports Research & Development of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency
From a prophetic perspective I don’t see the rise in the popularity of digital currencies which is further spurring on this CBDC race as a coincidence. In my article, What is the Prophetic Significance of Digital Currency?, I elaborated on why I believe this digital currency race is prophetically significant.
I believe that this “CBDC race” may be laying the groundwork for the mark of the beast system that will come to fruition during the tribulation. As we see efforts for this progress it shows us how close this time period is, and even closer the rapture of the church.
Japan’s central bank to pilot digital currency starting in April
TechCrunch: The move comes more than two years after the BoJ made its first step in the space, launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof of concept experiment, in October 2020.
The BoJ kicked off the first phase of that PoC in April 2021 to test the basic transactions of CBDC, including issuance, payout and transfer. A year later, Japan entered phase 2 of the PoC, which is expected to end this March, to conduct additional functions of CBCD related to its core performance.
The pilot program, launching in April, aims to “test the technical feasibility not fully covered by the PoCs,” and “to utilize the skill and insights of private businesses in terms of technology and operation for designing a CBDC ecosystem in the possible event of social implementation,” said executive director of the Bank of Japan Uchida Shinichi during his speech.
“Under the pilot program, we plan to develop a system for experiments, where a central system, intermediary network systems, intermediary systems and endpoint devices would be configured in an integrated manner,” Uchida said. Read More
Russia to roll out CBDC pilot with real consumers in April
CoinTelegraph: The Bank of Russia is preparing to roll out the first consumer pilot for the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) on April 1, 2023.
Russia’s central bank is set to soon debut the first real-world digital ruble transactions involving 13 local banks and several merchants, first deputy governor Olga Skorobogatova said.
The official noted that the upcoming CBDC pilot will involve real operations and real consumers in Russia but will be limited to a certain number of transactions and customers, the local news agency TASS reported.
“We plan to launch the digital ruble project on April 1, with transactions involving individual transfers as well as payments in trade and service enterprises,” Skorobogatova stated at the Ural Forum Cybersecurity in Finance. She added that the banks participating in the pilot have technically confirmed their readiness to start testing the digital ruble. Read More
Source
- Japan’s central bank to pilot digital currency starting in April (February 20th, 2023) – TechCrunch
- Russia to roll out CBDC pilot with real consumers in April (February 17th, 2023) – CoinTelegraph
- Bank of Russia to Pilot CBDC in April (February 17th, 2023) – CoinDesk