The Central Bank of Nigeria will reportedly initiate the pilot stage for  its central bank digital currency, which is scheduled to operate across the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain, beginning October 1st. 

Specifically, for the majority of 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reportedly been in the center of attention due to the anti-crypto stance it adopted. 

However, the situation has been reversed, with the nation pouring in twice the amount of investment and research into crypto’s underlying technology – blockchain – and has also selected a specific date to run the trial phase, for its blockchain-based central bank digital currency (CBDC).

On October 1st, the CBN will reportedly roll out a pilot scheme dedicated to “GIANT” – a CBDC initiative that has been in the works starting 2017, which operates across the open-source blockchain Hyperledger Fabric.

Rakiya Mohammed, CBN’s information technology director, reportedly remarked that the bank is considering carrying out a proof-of-concept prior to the end of this year. 

During a webinar with its stakeholders, CBN spokesperson reportedly highlighted that it is a mission for the entity to stay relevant with the wide range of central banks throughout the globe, which are putting extensive efforts in their own CBDC research and development.

Among the motivations for the initiative, CBN further claimed that a CBDC would offer additional advantages for macro and growth management, cross-border trade support and financial inclusion.

Per CBN, the scope of possible advantages could be widened, offering enhanced efficiency for payments and remittances, better monetary policy transmission, to improved tax revenue collection, and the facilitation of targeted social policies.