Hana Bank-POSTECH 'Join Hands'... Conducting Central Bank Digital Currency Technology Verification

First Joint Research Project Conducted Through Hana Financial Group's 'TechFin Industry-Academic Cooperation Center'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Hana Bank announced on the 14th that it is conducting a technology verification of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in collaboration with the POSTECH Crypto Blockchain Research Center.

Hana Financial Group established the TechFin Industry-Academia Cooperation Center with POSTECH in August, the first in the domestic financial sector to promote the Digital New Deal. This industry-academia cooperation is the first case of jointly researching blockchain technology and the financial sector.

Hana Bank plans to build a pilot system by the end of April to verify scenarios expected when the Bank of Korea issues CBDC, enabling commercial banks to play a normal distribution role.

This technology verification was conducted through the Cosmos platform, which offers fast processing speeds and easy interoperability with different blockchains. After the central bank issues CBDC, various scenarios are being tested to verify whether digital currency can circulate smoothly like physical currency through commercial banks' supply, individual exchange, transfer, and payment.

In addition to testing the general currency functions of CBDC, it is designed to reflect the central bank's monetary policy by allowing conditional settings such as restricting payments to specific industries or regions or limiting usage to a certain period.

A Hana Bank Global Digital Section official stated, “Starting with this virtual scenario verification, we will conduct additional technology verifications reflecting the Bank of Korea’s CBDC consulting results. Hana Bank plans to actively participate in the introduction of CBDC starting with this research.”