Ukraine’s bank TASCOMBANK presented the findings of its digital hryvnia (CBDC) pilot launch. The National Bank said that the project would become “the basis for the further development of the payment landscape of Ukraine.”
TASCOMBANK, one of Ukraine’s oldest commercial banks, presented a report with the results of the pilot launch of the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The project was technically supported by Stellar, whose blockchain network was used to issue the digital hryvnia.
The report is primarily intended for representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The project’s main goal was to explore “a new way of issuing and managing electronic money” and “test the issuance of electronic money on an open blockchain with asset-control capabilities for issuers.”
In the context of practical applications, the project focused on peer-to-peer payments, merchant payments, and payroll. Among the main advantages of the digital hryvnia, the report highlighted the following:
- transparency and accountability at all stages of circulation, including among transaction participants;
- improved security and confidentiality of client data;
- low commission costs;
- high throughput capacity.
The digital hryvnia can become “a new generation means of payment for the citizens and organizations of Ukraine, their employees and clients, government institutions, and international organizations,” said Sergii Kholod, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank. “The results of the pilot project presented the openness of the bank’s infrastructure to blockchain solutions in the future.”
Oleksii Shaban, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, noted that “there are still many hypotheses to study and test.” Earlier, representatives of the National Bank unveiled three options for CBDC use and patented the trademark “e-hryvnia.”
Recall that the pilot project of the digital hryvnia was launched in December 2021 with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the technical participation of the Stellar Development Foundation. Moreover, Ukraine plans to create a national blockchain-backed realty register. According to DappRadar, the country took the lead in the crypto adoption rate in Q3 2022.
