Share this article
Thailand's Central Bank Is Developing a Digital Currency Based on R3 Tech
The Bank of Thailand is developing its own digital currency, aiming to complete a first proof-of-concept by March 2019.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:18 a.m. Published Aug 22, 2018, 9:00 a.m.
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has announced it expects to complete the first phase of a proof-of-concept trial for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by March 2019.
The Thai central bank said in a release on Tuesday that it has partnered with eight financial institutions in the country in a bid to create a CBDC based on Corda, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform developed by the enterprise-focused consortium startup R3.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The ultimate goal of the effort is to use the digital currency to facilitate interbank transactions and to "enhance efficiency of the Thai financial market infrastructure," according to the announcement.
To assist with the so-called Project Inthanon, the BoT has signed up R3 as technological partner and eight other participating institutions, including Bangkok Bank Public, Krung Thai, Siam Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand) and HSBC.
"Project Inthanon Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2019 after which the BoT will publish a project summary accordingly," the bank said in the announcement.
It continued:
"Building upon the findings and outcomes from Phase 1, the project participants aim to further develop the capabilities of the prototype for broader functions including third party funds transfer and cross-border funds transfer."
The central bank's governor first revealed the initial concept for the project in a speech in June, commenting at the time that the aim is to explore the potential of blockchain in facilitating cross-bank transactions before it can be formally launched at a larger scale.
With the launch of Project Inthanon, the BoT joins a growing group of central banking authorities to have started trialing DLT systems to facilitate interbank and cross-border transactions, including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Canada.
The BoT also said in the release that it is currently conducting another DLT proof-of-concept designed to boost the efficiency of government bond sales.
Thai baht image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
What to know:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
Top Stories
