Central Bank of Korea Selects Cocoa Blockchain Arm for Digital Win-Testing

The South Korean central bank has selected a blockchain subsidiary of the local internet giant Kakao as a technology provider for its digital currency pilots.

Kakao’s local Korea JoongAng Daily news agency has won a bid for a digital currency from the Central Bank of Korea (CBDC), making it the premier technology provider for blockchain-based digital profit simulation, the company said. Korea Local News JoongAng Daily reported further Tuesday.

The central bank has announced that Ground X will participate in the Korean CBDC project in partnership with the US blockchain company ConsenSys and other cocoa subsidiaries such as KakaoBank and Kakao Pay.

ConsenSys focuses on infrastructure and decentralized applications for the Ethereum blockchain and will contribute to the CBDC project by introducing in-house solutions such as ConsenSys Quorum and ConsenSys Codefi, the company announced on Twitter.

Today the Central Bank of Korea selected GroundX for their digital currency project.

As a technology partner of GroundX, the blockchain subsidiary of Kakao, we are pleased to be working with our leading CBDC technology system. @ConsenSysQuorum and @ConsenSysCodefi https://t.co/4hQohMRJj3

– ConsenSys (@Consensys) July 20, 2021

The BoK has opened a bidding process for companies interested in implementing a blockchain-enabled CBDC simulation project. The first tests are expected to begin next month, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

Ground X was launched by Kakao in 2018 and is known for running its own blockchain platform called Klaytn. ConsenSys has partnered with Ground X to develop a separate platform for issuing Korean CBDCs.

Connected: Korea’s Shinhan Bank joins the Klaytn Blockchain Board

This initiative aims to test CBDCs in a virtual simulation environment based on distributed ledger technology and examine potential use cases related to issuance, redemption, billing and settlement, electronic CBDC, and potential integrations related to digital art purchasing and copyrights . The central bank initially announced that it would test the distribution of the digital won in February 2021.