Japan Blockchain Startup Seeks to Build Asian Digital Payment Network

(Nikkei Asia) — Japanese fintech developer Soramitsu has joined an effort to build a cross-border payment system for Asian countries involving Cambodia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the core of a growing international network.

Soramitsu has supported the issuance of Asian CBDCs Bakong in Cambodia and Laos’ Digital Lao Kip. Bakong is already used for QR code-based digital payments between Cambodia and Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. As of the end of 2022, it had 8.5 million users and handled around $15 billion in payments.