Samsung to join Kakao for offline trials of South Korean CBDC

South Korea has been taking big steps towards the development of its central bank digital currency [CBDC]. In fact, according to local media, two Samsung affiliates are set to join several Kakao subsidiaries in piloting the Bank of Korea’s CBDC prototype. Samsung, reportedly, will be carrying out the test for offline payments using its Galaxy smartphones.

The central bank of the country confirmed Samsung Electronics and its subsidiary Samsung SDS’s participation in the Kakao consortium just recently. With the current deal, Samsung’s IT services and blockchain arm, Samsung SDS, will join Kakao as a tech system advisor. What’s more, its other subsidiary S-core will work with Kakao’s blockchain company Ground X on coin issuance.

The aforementioned report added

“Samsung Electronics and Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary, Ground X, plan to start full-scale research work with the Bank of Korea from the 28th of this month to June of next year. In addition to issuing and distributing CBDCs, it plans to implement cross-border remittance and payment functions in a virtual environment.”

As Samsung and Kakao rally together to develop South Korea’s CBDC, the mobile giant wants to test operating a CBDC contained in its Galaxy phones. The team will be studying whether or not Galaxy phones can carry transactions in an offline mode, i.e., without an Internet connection. If possible, it will be a huge boost to the development of a CBDC.

While the government is sprinting towards the launch of a CBDC, their attitude towards mainstream cryptos has barely changed. Just recently, the ruling Democratic Party’s crypto-team discussed plans to “institutionalize corporate transactions” on crypto-exchange platforms with prominent exchanges in the country. This was an effort to add to the country’s crypto-regulations.

Exchanges, for their part, were not happy, however, and “strongly criticized the government’s regulatory measures.”

South Korean exchanges are already dealing with one deadline of 24 September to register with authorities. Interestingly, an opposing bill has been submitted to the parliament, one requesting an extension of six months. This will allow exchanges to implement the long list of compliance requirements.