ITU International Telecommunication Union : eCurrency joins ITU to drive international acceptance of digital fiat currency

Co-founder and Chief Scientist of eCurrency, David Wen (right), met recently with the Director of ITU's standardization arm, Chaesub Lee.

eCurrency has become a member of ITU's standardization arm, ITU-T, to influence the development of the international standards to provide the technical underpinnings of digital fiat currency.

Digital fiat currency authorized and issued by a country's Central Bank - recognized as legal tender equivalent to banknotes and coins - will drive the expansion of the digital payments ecosystem by offering a secure, interoperable payment instrument suited to the increasingly digital world of money.

eCurrency is a technology provider empowering Central Banks to put digital fiat currency into circulation, ensuring that Central Banks continue to bear sole responsibility for the issuance of national currency. Issued by Central Banks, this currency will be subject to the same regulation as banknotes and coins, falling within the governance frameworks designed to protect the stability and integrity of the financial system.

'eCurrency was an active participant in the ITU Focus Group on Digital Financial Services, a group that issued a series of policy recommendations to assist countries in leveraging digital tools to increase financial inclusion,' said Chaesub Lee, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. 'The collaboration that formed in this Focus Group is now giving rise to valuable new ITU standardization work, with emerging work on digital currency offering a prime example.'

'Digital fiat currency controlled by a Central Bank will spur growth and innovation in the digital payments arena while concurrently mitigating the systemic risks posed by unregulated, privately-issued forms of digital value,' said Jonathan Dharmapalan, founder and CEO of eCurrency. 'We look forward to our collaboration on the ITU platform with other innovators sharing our vision to create a trusted digital currency ecosystem.'

In the latest post to the ITU Blog, David Wen, Chief Scientist at eCurrency, explains the great potential of digital fiat currency and how its success will hinge on security, interoperability and international standardization. Read the blog post…