Georgia's central bank taps Ripple for digital currency pilot project

The central bank of Georgia has partnered with blockchain payments firm Ripple on the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project.

The pilot program from National Bank of Georgia (NBG) will experiment with Ripple's CBDC Platform to assess the practical use cases of a "digital lari" CBDC for public sector, businesses, and retail users in the country. The project is currently in its initial stage, with NBG soon planning to test Ripple’s CBDC platform in a live environment, according to a statement.

NBG said it has selected Ripple as its key CBDC partner because the company "has a deep understanding of the project's purposes and use cases, as well as a full commitment to the project's success."

Additionally, NBG highlighted Ripple’s "experience in conducting real-life pilot project deployments, ranging from primary CBDC digital infrastructure to smart contracts and tokenization."

"By harnessing the power of the Ripple CBDC Platform, this pilot will pave the way for transformative advancements in the utilization of blockchain technology within the public sector,” Ripple VP of Central Bank Engagements James Wallis stated.

Friday’s partnership announcement adds to the CBDC programs Ripple is already engaged in, including five other pilot programs with central banks in Bhutan, Palau, Montenegro, Colombia, and Hong Kong.