The government of Palau started minting Palau Stablecoins (PSC) backed by the U.S. dollar. The new coin is issued on the XRP Ledger blockchain. The stablecoin will be distributed to local officials as part of a pilot test.
The government of the island nation of Palau is launching a pilot project of a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin. The official release will take place on July 27 at 9:00 AM (GMT+9), a spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Finance announced on Twitter.
The stablecoin will be issued on the XRP Ledger blockchain, and the issuer is the National Treasury of the Republic of Palau. The first Palau Stablecoins will be distributed to government employees. The project team said they successfully tested transactions with PSC using crypto wallets on WebApp and Android. They are also preparing the release of a wallet app for iPhones.
The PSC project runs on the Ripple CBDC platform launched in May this year. The initiative is expected to help improve the country’s financial infrastructure and make payments and transfers more efficient and accessible to all Palauans.
Palau is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of just over 18,000 and uses the U.S. dollar as its national currency. The stablecoin pilot project is part of the state’s strategy to develop crypto technology and the digital economy on the island. Additionally, Palau already has a Root Name System (RNS) digital residency program and issues IDs as non-fungible tokens (NFT) on the BNB Chain blockchain.
Fun fact: locals have already given the government’s stablecoin the nickname Kluk, which means “boy.” This is what people on the island call the whimbrel bird, which is depicted on the stablecoin’s logo. According to local lore, the delerrok is a mythical “money bird” that is revered in the country and considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Therefore, the image of this bird decorates almost all local banks and retail outlets.
