Japan Gearing Up to Launch Its Own Digital Currency: Report

Japan is gearing up to launch a digital currency in both the public and private sectors as it trails China, which is in the trial stage of launching its own.

According to the Japan Times, the country's Digital Currency Forum aims to create “some form” of digital currency similar to Facebook’s diem plan, by 2023.

The group is preparing to conduct a feasibility study for its virtual currency in 2021.

“China has prompted moves toward digital currency (around the world),” Hiromi Yamaoka, a former Bank of Japan official, told the Japan Times. 

China has done so at "surprising speed" while "central banks tend to take a cautious stance,” added Yamaoka, who expects China to officially launch its digital yuan in 2022.

China has been accelerating its push toward the adoption of a digital currency as the People’s Bank of China works with banks and commercial entities on public pilots to gauge user experience.

In October the People’s Bank of China launched a pilot program that provided digital yuan to citizens selected by lottery in Shenzhen, and in Suzhou earlier this month.