Ripple to develop CBDC for Republic of Palau

Ripple has announced its partnership with the Republic of Palau to explore the country’s first national digital currency and its use cases with the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

The partnership will initially focus on developing strategies for cross-border payments and a USD-backed digital currency for Palau. This could see the implementation of the world’s first government-backed national stablecoin in the first half of 2022 for which Ripple would provide Palau with technical, business, design and policy support. Meanwhile, exploring a USD-backed stablecoin and associated use cases—such as a corporate registry—on the XRP Ledger could provide a viable alternative to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for countries like Palau.

“As part of our commitment to lead in financial innovation and technologies, we are delighted to partner with Ripple,” said President Surangel Whipps Jr. “The first phase of the partnership will focus on a cross-border payments strategy and exploring options to create a national digital currency, providing the citizens of Palau with greater financial access.”

Palau understands the potential for financial technologies—including blockchain—to transform its economy and position the country as a highly desirable country to do business with. The same technologies will also transform how its citizens access financial services and enable efficient cross-border remittances.

As an established leader in the global climate debate, Palau chose Ripple because of its extensive experience in blockchain and building global payment systems, and the XRP Ledger because it’s carbon-neutral and 120,000x more energy-efficient than proof-of-work blockchains. What’s more, the XRPL provides significant benefits such as scalability, speed and low cost.

“We are excited to be working with Palau to achieve its financial and climate-related goals,” said James Wallis, VP of Central Bank Engagements at Ripple. “We have a wonderful opportunity to bring together our technology and experience with the unique characteristics of Palau to make a real economic and social impact for the country.”

The XRP Ledger provides financial institutions and government bodies such as Palau the ability to fully settle transactions for fractions of a penny and in just 3-5 seconds. To date, more than 5,400 currencies have been issued and traded on the XRP Ledger via its integrated decentralized exchange (DEX) and custom token functionality that makes it easy to create, issue and manage any asset—including stablecoins.