EY-led consortium bids to work on Korea's central bank digital currency pilot project

A consortium led by EY Hanyoung, the "Big Four" consulting giant's South Korean subsidiary, has reportedly bid for the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project.

EY Hanyoung, along with Samsung SDS and Japanese tech giant LINE (owned by South Korea's Naver Corporation), looks to work on the technical design of the CBDC project, as reported by ZDNet Korea.

The Bank of Korea recently invited bids for the project and reportedly only received the EY consortium's bid. The central bank is conducting another bid until October 29, and if no party participates, it will evaluate the EY consortium for awarding the project.

If awarded, EY Hanyoung will be in charge of CBDC's design processes, while Samsung SDS and LINE will provide system architecture support, per the report. 

Earlier this week, a LINE spokesperson told The Block that the company is in talks with Asian central banks regarding possibly working on digital currency projects. "Our aim is to provide a blockchain platform that is fit for CBDC based on LINE Blockchain," the spokesperson said at the time.

The Bank of Korea launched the CBDC pilot program in April of this year. It is expected to run until December 2021. The central bank has maintained that it is not necessary it will issue CBDC in the near future.