Central Bank of Bahrain announces digital currency pilot with JP Morgan

By Leandra Monteiro

Bank ABC in partnership with JP Morgan will pilot the transferring of funds from and to the Kingdom of Bahrain using digital dollars. The trial is for cross border US dollar supply chain payments and receipts with Bahrain’s Bank ABC.

The central bank claims it will act as a close partner in the pilot trials and aims to extend the collaboration to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Also, the pilot aims “to develop a more efficient payments infrastructure, focused on addressing the current limitations in cross-border payments,” said Sael Al Waary, deputy CEO of Bank ABC, according to media reports. “We envisage major changes across the world with digital currencies, which will play a critical role in enabling the future digital economies.”

According to media reports, H.E. Rasheed Al-Maraj, governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain stated, “Through this pilot with JP Morgan and Bank ABC, we aspire to address the inefficiencies and pain-points which exist today in the traditional cross-border payments arena”.

The settlement solution is part of JP Morgan’s Onyx blockchain division. Additionally, Onyx is involved with Singapore in an interbank settlement platform, Partior, that uses blockchain and digital currencies. Temasek and DBS Bank have partnered with the company for that project.

The commercial applications of the payments network consist of cross-border payments in numerous currencies, foreign currency exchange, settlement of foreign currency denominated securities, as well as integration with other blockchain-based platforms.