[NEWS] Hokuriku Bank to issue stablecoin for local circulation in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture

On the 27th, Hokuriku Bank announced that it will start distributing a blockchain-based stable coin in Suzu City in collaboration with Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Kono Shinkin Bank, and Digital Platformer (hereinafter referred to as DP).

The aim is to improve productivity by digitizing Suzu City and increasing the ratio of cashless payments.

Around August this year, the app for the digital local currency service "Suzu Tochitsuka" will be available to individual customers, and Suzu City will start issuing points "Suzu Tochipo" that can be used for payments at affiliated stores. Suzu Tochipo will integrate health points and nature coexistence points that have been offered independently so far.

In addition, Hokuriku Bank plans to start distributing "Suzu Tochika", a stable coin that can be used in Suzu City, in December. Citizens will be able to charge it directly from their own savings accounts.

When making payments using Suzu Tochika, the payment fees borne by affiliated stores will be set at 0.5%, which is close to the lowest level not only in Japan but also internationally.

The widespread use of inexpensive cashless payment methods will increase the ratio of cashless payments in the region and digitize the points system in Suzu City, contributing to the circulation of funds in the region and improving productivity.

As a follow-up, the project plans to work with cities and towns in Ishikawa Prefecture to issue and distribute "Ishikawa Tochika" throughout the prefecture by utilizing the interoperability of blockchain.

The project aims to build a payment system that can be used by individual customers and businesses regardless of the financial institution they deal with.

In Suzu City and the Oku-Noto region, Kono Shinkin Bank and Hokuriku Bank will work together to promote the use of digital local currencies.

In other regions, the project aims to provide local residents with a convenient payment method and improve administrative services and productivity by promoting the use of digital local currencies through collaboration between cities and towns and regional financial institutions.

The blockchain platform used to record and manage payment data in this project is "SHIKI," a digital currency and decentralized ID issuing platform developed by DP.

The company developed LITA based on Hyperledger Iroha, which has been adopted in the development of Cambodia's CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). In addition, it provides a DID (Decentralized ID) issuing service called MyDID, and a platform for issuing digital regional recovery vouchers and DIDs through Toyono Wallet, which was launched in Toyono Town, Osaka Prefecture.

SHIKI is a platform that utilizes a consortium-type blockchain, and comes with standard functions such as issuing DIDs, issuing digital regional currencies, and issuing digital certificates.

Reference:Hokkoku Bank
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