South Korea to begin digital currency pilot in late 2024 with 100,000 citizens joining experiment

South Korea is gearing up for an exciting experiment with digital currency, a type of money that exists only in electronic form. This pilot program, which is a collaboration between the Bank of Korea and other financial institutions, will involve 100,000 citizens who will use digital tokens to make purchases. The initiative was announced after Agustin Carstens, a leader in global banking, visited the Bank of Korea.

The participants will receive digital tokens, similar to vouchers, from selected banks and will be able to use them in stores. The recruitment for participants will take place around September to October next year, and the experiment will last for three months. The Bank of Korea believes that digital currency could solve many issues associated with current voucher systems, like high fees and slow transactions.

However, the use of this digital currency will be limited to purchasing goods, and it cannot be used for sending money to others at this stage. The Bank of Korea will also conduct technical trials to assess the practicality of this new financial product. They plan to test it in a simulated environment for carbon emissions trading. The full-scale pilot is set to launch in the last quarter of 2024, with the possibility of additional projects if banks propose innovative ideas. Agustin Carstens praised the Bank of Korea's proactive steps towards modernizing the monetary system.