Crypto exchange Binance has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), according to a June 30 announcement. Binance and SERC will work together to develop digital assets regulations in the country. SERC is looking to leverage Binance’s technical expertise and experience in the field to develop its own legal framework for the digital asset market. Cryptocurrencies are not regulated in Cambodia, and any unlicensed activity involving these digital assets is highly prohibited. The partnership could prove pivotal for the South Asian country, where any crypto-linked activity has been deemed illegal since 2018. Gleb …

A fast-moving Bitcoiner has run through 7 of 40 countries on his Bitcoin-powered marathon around the world. Paco the Runner, also known as Paco de la India, set off on Sept. 17, 2021, paying for his entire running trip thanks to all the Bitcoiners around the world. He’s showing that “Bitcoin gives everyone freedom in the way they desire it.” Paco went from “living a lie on the fiat standard,” to traveling the world living off Bitcoin (BTC) only when a dear friend gifted him the book, The Bitcoin Standard. The reading and subsequent conversations with friends about money and …

A YouTuber started a journey in September to see whether he could survive solely on Bitcoin as a means of payment while traveling to 40 different countries. Speaking to Cointelegraph on Monday, YouTuber Paco De La India — or “Paco from India” — said though the spread of omicron had somewhat altered his original travel plans, he was still surprised at how many people had accepted Bitcoin (BTC) in countries where crypto was in a legally or regulatory grey area. Beginning his journey in the Indian city of Bengaluru, Paco sold his belongings in September 2021 and mostly relied on …

The rapid growth of mainstream attention toward cryptocurrencies has forced the hands of numerous governments to create their digital alternatives. Over the past few years, interest from various jurisdictions has been pointed towards central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) — digital versions of government-issued fiat. Given their capacity to use blockchain technology to facilitate a simplified fiscal policy — not to mention calibrate privacy features and even provide cross-border banking services to the unbanked — CBDCs continue to gain even more attention from various governments worldwide. Already, surveys show more than 80% of central banks are researching CBDCs, with some working …

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) continues progressing with its central bank digital currency- (CBDC)-like initiative known as Bakong, disclosing several project milestones. NBC’s director general and the Bakong project lead Chea Serey said in a Wednesday interview with The Nikkei that Bakong’s electronic wallet reached 200,000 users in June, doubling from three months earlier. Based on blockchain technology, the Bakong payment and money transfer service was originally launched by the NBC in October 2020. The digital money project has amassed nearly six million users in the first half of 2021, including those reached indirectly through member bank mobile apps, …

Amid a global race toward central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, Cambodia officially launched a blockchain-based platform for digital money transactions called Bakong. "Bakong, a payment and money transfer service through banks or microfinance institutions, was established under the initiative of the National Bank of Cambodia," said an article from Dap-News on Oct. 28. The Asian country's central bank collaborated with a number of entities on the project. Bakong first secured involvement from Cambodian financial giant PRASAC in October 2019. In January 2020, Cambodia's central bank forecast the platform's launch, revealing the system as a closed circuit enterprise. "Bakong is …

Limestone Network, a Singapore-based blockchain project for building smart cities, has announced on July 23 it will list its native token-LIMEX on Bitrue crypto exchange for trading. According to the report, LIMEX will integrate an entire smart city's applications such as property management, retail malls, payments, financial services, transportation, parking, F&B and entertainment, to create an intelligent urban ecosystem. Leverage blockchain for data management and privacy Limestone Network started with a 100-hectare private development project in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. It plans to have 10,000 tenants and a daily population of 190,000 people on board. Limestone Network …

Cambodia’s central bank will launch a distributed ledger technology (DLT) network to enable greater interoperability in the country’s payments sector and to take on the almighty greenback. Consumers will be able to make near instant payments via the platform, using a mobile app and QR codes. During Consensus: Distributed on May 11, the assistant governor and director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, Serey Chea, revealed the primary goal of the DLT network was to undermine the popularity of the U.S. dollar. “Cambodia is probably the most dollarized economy in the world. The whole financial system or actually our whole …

The National Bank of Cambodia’s new digital currency is called Bakong. It’s effectively a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that was launched on a trial basis throughout Cambodia in July. Chea Serey, director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, said the system will be operational within the present fiscal quarter. Serey described Bakong as “the national payment gateway for Cambodia.” Bakong will play a central role in bringing all players in the payment space in Cambodia under the same platform, making it easy for end-users to pay each other regardless of the institutions they bank with. Eventually, we hope to …

Assistant Governor at the National Bank of Cambodia Serey Chea said that blockchain payments will enable greater financial control and remittance efficiency in an interview with CNBC published on Oct. 22. Chea said that the National Bank of Cambodia has experimented with domestic blockchain payments for retail, but the main interest is testing them for cross-border transactions. She noted that the institution has been collaborating with Malaysian bank Maybank. It has already been recently reported that Maybank has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Bank of Cambodia on blockchain cross-border payments and remittances, though the details of the …

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on cross-border payments and remittances. On Oct. 16, Malaysian business news outlet The Edge Markets reported that the country's largest bank will work together with the National Bank of Cambodia to promote cross-border payments and remittances. With the MoU, Maybank Malaysia, Maybank Cambodia and NBC will explore the possibility of transferring funds between Cambodia and Malaysia through NBC’s blockchain-based Bakong payment system and Maybank’s Maybank2u digital platform. Chea Serey, the assistant governor and director-general of central banking at NBC said that the …

A Singaporean startup, Limestone Network, is using blockchain to sustain a smart neighbourhood at the heart of the Cambodian capital. As Tech in Asia reports on August 14, the 100-hectare mixed-use development in Phnom Penh encompasses residential properties, offices, retail centers, schools and a large-scale exhibition hall: it counts 10,000 business tenants and a daily population of 190,000. Limestone emerged from the first round of startups in the Singaporean government’s blockchain Tribe Accelerator, backed by government agency Enterprise Singapore. Digital passports and wallets At the heart of the Phnom Penh project is a blockchain-powered ID system, which creates a digital …