Bank Indonesia (BI) launched a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or Digital Rupiah. Even though the Digital Rupiah will be launched, BI said that it will not replace the original currency.
“The physical money will remain in existence. So, Rupiah Digital is an option. People can choose between using cash or digital money,” said Filianingsih in BI Office.
Digital Rupiah is the same as Rupiah money in general which functions as legal tender throughout the territory of the Republic of Indonesia, but digital Rupiah is in digital form while Rupiah that we know is generally in the form of cash or coins.
Similar to the cash one, digital Rupiah also contains features that exist on cash, such as pictures of Indonesian heroes, art, and natural wealth, and so on, but in encrypted code form.
Meanwhile, the difference between digital Rupiah and crypto or cryptocurrency is that digital Rupiah is the only digital currency that can be used as a means of payment in Indonesia. Crypto can’t be used as a payment in Indonesia and only applies as an asset.
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As a digital Rupiah development design or CBDC, BI published a white paper on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. White paper is the first step for the Garuda Project, which is a project that covers various exploration initiatives for various architectural design options. The Garuda project will be implemented in 3 phases, starting from wholesale CBDC or digital Rupiah for issuance, destruction, and interbank transfers.
It is expanded to the monetary operation, money market business model, and finally to the end-to-end integration of digital Rupiah wholesale with Rupiah digital retail. In addition, this digital Rupiah will also be synergized and collaborated nationally and internationally.
