Japan to Launch Experiments Issuing Digital Yen in 2021

Japan announced today that it will begin experiments towards issuing a digital currency next year, The move follows the Bank of Japan's recently announced plan to experiment with issuing a digital yen.

The group consisting of Japan's three biggest banks as well as brokerages, telecommunication firms, utilities, and retailers, will conduct experiments for issuing a digital currency that will use a common settlement platform, according to a former BOJ executive Hiromi Yamaoka.

Yamaoka added, ''Japan has many digital platforms, none of which are big enough to beat cash payments.''

"We don't want to create another silo-type platform. What we want to do is to create a framework that can make various platforms mutually compatible," Yamaoka said.

On other hand, Authorities have been keen to promote cashless transactions to increase productivity, though progress has been slow partly due to the inconvenience of digital payment. Various digital platforms compete and remain incompatible with one another in Japan unlike in China, where a handful of huge platforms dominate the market.

Noteworthy, Japan has among the most cash-loving people in the world, with cashless payments making up only 20% of total settlement, well below the United States, with 45% and China with 70%.

Later, PayPal announced its entry into the cryptocurrency market next year, according to CNBC report. Also, the company plans to let customers use crypto to pay for things from its network of 26 million retailers.

Meanwhile, the firm has been granted a licence by the New York State Department of Financial Services, allowing it to roll out cryptocurrency payments via PayPal accounts from early 2021. A limited number of companies have been granted Bitlicenses since they came into effect in 2015.