Thailand's Central Bank plans to launch its Crypto Assets (CBDC) in 2025.
The Bank of Thailand plans to launch its Crypto Assets (CBDC) in 2025.
Thailand’s CBDC implementation will enter the operational phase in 2025, with a processing capacity of 8,500 transactions per second, 3.2 million users, and cross-border exchange capabilities with neighboring countries.
Latest progress in 2025
By 2025, following successful tests conducted between 2022 and 2024, Thailand’s CBDC implementation has entered the operational phase. The Bank of Thailand has successfully launched a limited retail CBDC operation, becoming one of the early countries in the ASEAN region to break through the pilot testing phase.
Key developments in 2025:
- The Inthanon project is fully integrated with the domestic payment infrastructure.
- The partner network has expanded to 15 financial institutions (up from the initial 8).
- Daily trading volume exceeds 175 million THB (approximately 5 million USD)
- Realizing cross-border CBDC exchange capabilities with two neighboring countries
The R3 Corda platform supporting Thailand’s CBDC has undergone significant upgrades to support higher transaction throughput and enhanced security protocols. These improvements address the initial scalability issues identified during the early testing phase.
| Features | Pilot in 2022 | Implementation in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Speed | 1,200 TPS | 8,500 TPS |
| user base | 10,000 testers | 3.2 million users |
| Merchants adopt | 250 test merchants | 45,000+ merchants |
| Use Case | Basic Transfer | Payment, Loan, Bond |
Thailand’s progress has positioned it among the global leaders in CBDC implementation, demonstrating how Central Bank Digital Currency can effectively coexist with traditional financial systems while providing enhanced efficiency, security, and accessibility for digital transactions.
Gate (Gate.io) provides comprehensive trading services for users interested in participating in the market affected by the development of these CBDCs, offering analytical tools to track the impact of Central Bank Digital Currencies on related Crypto Assets.
The Central Bank of Thailand may create a Crypto Asset for bank transaction settlements.
[TL; DR]
Thailand is jointly developing its digital currency with countries and regions such as Canada and Hong Kong.
Thailand, R3 Technology, and eight other financial institutions are collaborating to develop Thailand’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
R3 developers will develop digital currency based on Corda’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
Since the launch of the CBDC, the trading volume of domestic crypto assets exchanges in Thailand has increased from about $143 million in 2018 to $2.49 billion in 2020.
As of 2022, no country has fully launched its digital currency.
According to the Central Bank of Thailand, the full launch of the CBDC will be introduced in mid-2022.
The project named Inthanon attempts to create a bank’s own Crypto Assets based on blockchain technology, making interbank transactions both fast and cheap.
The Inthanon project is a type of Central Bank Digital Currency, utilizing a proof-of-concept mechanism for large-scale domestic and cross-border fund transfers.
A part of the project is also known as the “DLT _script_less Bond Project.”
The launch of CBDC will be carried out in phases.
In the first phase, all partners including technology companies and financial institutions will collaborate to design, develop, and test the proof of concept prototype.
The entire phase of the project aims to explore the potential advantages of distributed ledger technology in improving the efficiency of Thailand’s financial market infrastructure.
Keywords: Thailand, Central Bank, Digital Currency, Crypto Assets, CBDC, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Inthanon.
The widespread adoption and increasing popularity of Crypto Assets have left government agencies no choice but to follow the trends of the times in order to play a positive role in the ecosystem.
For many years, we have seen countries like Hong Kong and Canada develop their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) through their central banks. Recently, Thailand joined the international alliance and also launched its digital currency.
This article will introduce the efforts made by the Bank of Thailand, R3 Technology, and eight other financial institutions to collaboratively develop Thailand’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Let’s get into the main text!
Development of CBDC in Beijing
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is the digital equivalent of fiat currency. While fiat currencies such as the US dollar, euro, and Thai baht have no backing by physical goods or value, the digital currencies developed by central banks across the globe are backed by their respective fiat currencies.
The research by the Bank of International Settlements indicates that over 80% of Central Banks express interest in developing their Central Bank Digital Currency, so what is the background for the widespread adoption and development of CBDC?
The main background for its development is that the volatility of Crypto Assets, which has received unprecedented attention, is extremely high and lacks government support. No matter how high the price is, there is always a risk of a sudden crash.
In light of this, governments of each country are developing a digital currency supported by fiat currency, which is also regarded as legal tender, controlled by the government, and utilizes distributed ledger technology (as Crypto Assets).
Thailand is one of the countries that has recently developed Central Bank Digital Currency and has attracted much attention in recent years.
The governor of the Central Bank of Thailand stated, “This is the norm.” This statement supports the fact that Thailand’s CBDC is similar to those of other countries.
Like all other countries, Thailand plans to conduct an initial pilot in the second quarter of 2022. However, due to “design and related technologies still being clarified,” the testing has been postponed to the fourth quarter of 2022.
Most countries are in the trial phase of digital currencies and face similar issues. As a result, they are either delaying the trial period or correcting certain terms.
Thailand will begin testing deposits, withdrawals, and transfers of Central Bank Digital Currency. The preliminary pilot program will be tested as a retail CBDC. In other words, this is another payment method for “cash-like activities on a limited scale.”
This preliminary pilot program is similar to China’s digital renminbi and Nigeria’s eNaira, initially intended for limited-scale retail transactions. The success of CBDC at this stage will lay the foundation for broader adoption and large-scale use (such as interbank settlements and cross-border transfers).
Thailand and Crypto Assets
In March 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand announced a ban on using crypto assets as a means of payment. The announcement stated that all forms of crypto tokens would cease to be used for payments and transactions before April 1, 2022. However, crypto trading and exchanges would continue to operate as legitimate businesses.
At the time of this announcement, the Thai government is refocusing on regulating the Crypto Assets market. As more and more digital assets are used for money laundering, frequently affected by the volatility of the crypto market, and with related transaction fees becoming increasingly high, the implementation of relevant regulatory measures has become urgent.
While banning Crypto Assets payments will undoubtedly affect the enthusiasts and holders in the country, the Thai government believes this is in the best interest of the Thai people. Additionally, there is a need to reduce the dominance of these unregulated assets in the market. Unfortunately, Crypto Assets belong to this category of assets that require restrictions.
Thailand’s Central Bank has launched a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
In August 2018, the Central Bank of Thailand announced a collaboration with R3 Technology and eight other financial institutions to jointly create a Central Bank Digital Currency.
According to the announcement, the digital currency will operate based on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) called Corda. It will be developed by R3 Technology, a tech company focused on enterprises, which has extensive experience in leading, consulting, and implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) projects.
The other eight financial institutions collaborating with the Bank of Thailand and R3 are Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited, Krung Thai Bank Public Company Ltd, Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Limited, Kasikorn Bank Public Company Limited, Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand) Limited, Thanachart Bank PLC, and HSBC.
According to officials from the Bank of Thailand, the digital currency prototype is used for interbank payments, and this digital currency has the potential to become the foundation of Thailand’s future financial infrastructure.
Since the concept of creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) was proposed by the Bank of Thailand, the trading volume of domestic crypto assets exchanges has increased from about $143 million in 2018 to $2.49 billion in 2020. In addition to contributions from the digital asset ecosystem, the growth of the Thai crypto market can also be attributed to speculative investments and new regulatory measures that have improved the healthy development of the country’s crypto market.
It is important to know that there is currently no country that has launched a fully functional Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). With the recent measures taken by Thailand being implemented, it seems that it is close to realizing the full potential of CBDC. The Bank of Thailand looks forward to conducting public testing of the CBDC before the second quarter of 2022.
Next, we will focus on the technical situation of digital currency.
Inthanon Project and DLT Paperless Bond Project
Source of the image: Crowdfund\
insider
Although many experts regard the digital currency developed by the Bank of Thailand as the “Inthanon project”, some experts classify it into two categories, namely the “Inthanon project and the paperless bond project based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)”. However, since the Inthanon plan will be powered by Distributed Ledger Technology built by R3, we can consider the entire project as the “Inthanon project”.
The Inthanon project is a type of Central Bank digital currency that uses a proof-of-concept mechanism for large-scale domestic and cross-border fund transfers. A DLT paperless bond project will be deployed to enhance the efficiency of the registration and sales processes for digital currency bonds.
The Inthanon project and the DLT paperless bond project aim to identify the design of digital currency CBDC projects, key findings, and future considerations. This project is expected to enhance financial infrastructure by enabling direct transfer of digital value between parties, immutable record keeping, and programmable automation through smart contracts.
The Inthanon project initiative will be implemented in phases. In the initial phase, the project aims to explore the beneficial impacts and potential benefits of distributed ledger technology in enhancing the efficiency of Thailand’s financial market infrastructure.
All partners, including technology companies and financial institutions, will collaborate to design, develop, and test the proof-of-concept prototype. This prototype will support bulk fund transfers using CBDC tokens. The first phase will be completed in 2019 and will test liquidity saving mechanisms and risk management.
The next phase of the project will test the capabilities for broader applications such as cross-border and third-party fund transfers. The testing in these phases will provide insights to guide the future trajectory of the project. At the same time, multiple parties will explore how to utilize Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and digital currencies that support interbank transactions.
Conclusion
Image source: Electronic Payments\
International
The Bank of Thailand is launching its own Central Bank Digital Currency to ensure it becomes a stakeholder in the Crypto Assets ecosystem. Establishing this digital currency will help optimize interbank payments, virtual transactions, and other functions of decentralized financial services.
We must clearly recognize that the Thai government is taking a new key step towards entering the Crypto Assets ecosystem. The Central Bank of Thailand is planning to launch a digital platform for consumers to pay bills and conduct other financial transactions - Promptpay.
Although the Central Bank of Thailand has not given a specific date for the full launch of its digital currency, the Thai government is working hard and has conducted tests periodically to ensure the “perfect” birth of the project. The initial pilot program is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Overall, industry professionals and enthusiasts hold an optimistic attitude towards the results after the project’s full disclosure.
