[Pangyo Tech] Kakao Became the Primary Partner of BOK for CBDC

    LOS ANGELES, CA, August 06, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Kakao's block-chain technology affiliate Ground X is selected for Bank of Korea (BOK)'s primary negotiation partner outstripping two competitors. Winning the bid for collaborating BOK's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Simulation, the company will join overall process of the simulation. The simulation will cover the lifecycle of CBDC including issuance, circulation and redemption of CBDC and services such as remittance and payment.

Korea ON-Line-E-Procurement System announced on July 20th that the BOK selected Ground X for the primary negotiation partner for its CBDC simulation.

Ground X recorded 9.975 point for bid price, 85.4004 point for technology assessment and 95.3754 point in total which is higher than that of Line Plus, a Naver's affiliate, (92.7182 point in total) and SK C&C, SK group's SI affiliate, (89.8163 point in total). For technological aspect, Ground X got similar score to Line Plus but the Kakao's affiliate shook off the competitor with the bid price score.

Ground X is collaborated by other subsidiaries Kakao Bank and Kakao Pay, Ethereum infrastructure developer ConsenSys and local block-chain startup Onther. Ground X is expected to capitalize on its block-chain platform Klaytn for the simulation. The CBDC collaboration brightens the company's prospect for getting an upper hand during the process of introducing CBDC in South Korea as the simulation is the first digital currency experiment of the country.

The BOK will put the simulation on track within next month after striking an agreement with the primary negotiation partner. A virtual environment will be used for the simulation research by the June next year to review CBDC's efficiency and stability of relevant IT systems. The simulation will be carried out with two stages. Stage first will cover basic functions of CBDC including issuance and circulation of it. Second stage will review extended functions of the currency such as offline payment and purchasing of digital asset.

The bidding is expected to speed up the BOK's CBDC development. However, CBDC will take much time to be used in real life given the necessity of technological preparedness and relevant discussion to name just a few. The chair of the BOK, Lee Ju-yeol said "for now, the necessity of issuing CBDC is not that significant. However, we're carrying out relevant works for preparedness" adding "at least two to three years will be required given where we are with respect to relevant technologies and systems" at the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly on 16th of July.

Pangyo Technovalley is an innovation hub for global companies comparable to the Silicon Valley in the US, Zhongguancun in China, and STATION F in France.

It is an Asia tech hub with 1,259 IT, BT, CT, and NT companies that possess innovative products and technologies. Located just south of the metropolitan area, it provides the best environment for Korean companies to do business with great transportation access and infrastructure.

Various high-tech companies are located in Pangyo Technovalley, and it is occupied by 64,000 full-time employees, many in their 20-30s. In terms of industry, the companies are engaged in information technology, contents technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

With the support of innovative companies with global capabilities such as Kakao, Naver, AhnLab, Krafton, NCSoft, Nexon, and Hancom, companies in Pangyo Technovalley recorded 107 trillion won in sales last year. Investment and infrastructure growth in Pangyo is expected to continue, with the Metaverse hub entering Pangyo this year.

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