Palau Launches Second Phase of PSC Program with Ripple Partnership

With the formal commencement of the  phase of the Palau Stablecoin (PSC) Program, the Ministry of Finance in Palau has officially begun the program. Jay Hunter Anson, a cybersecurity consultant in Palau, released a post in which he confirmed the beginning of the CBDC pilot program in the country.

According to Anson, Palau intends to extend its cooperation with Ripple in this next step. This will enable the PSC team to take advantage of Ripple’s CBDC platform as well as the technical skills that Ripple possesses.

PSC maintains a fixed 1:1 ratio with the United States dollar as a digital currency. A commercial bank insured by the FDIC keeps the PSC that supports USD. XRP Ledger (XRPL) is the platform on which the Palauan government publishes the PSC.

Furthermore, Anson brought attention to the fact that the primary objective of the second phase of the PSC pilot program is to form new partnerships for the purpose of achieving marketing and sustainable development objectives simultaneously.

Priority will be given to establishing a digital ecosystem and enhancing user interaction during the second phase of the PSC program, with an emphasis on ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

Anthony Welfare, who serves as Ripple’s CBDC Strategic Advisor, expressed his opinions regarding the commencement of the PSC pilot program’s Phase 2 on the X platform, which was formerly known as Twitter.

Welfare stressed the benefits of blockchain-based digital currency, stating perks such as lower transaction fees and the possibility of addressing the environmental impact of money circulation. These benefits are cited as examples of the positives.

The Ripple CBDC adviser also brought up unique obstacles, such as the difficulty of transporting traditional currencies across the 340 islands that make up Palau. In addition to that, he mentioned that the prices of mobile data in the country are quite high.

It was mentioned by Welfare that the inhabitants of Palau are able to perform offline transactions utilizing a blockchain-based digital currency such as PSC, even when there is a power outage. The Ministry of Finance of Palau announced the successful completion of the first phase of the PSC program just a few days ago, and this update follows that announcement.

During the first phase, which lasted for a period of three months, the Ministry of Finance recruited 168 volunteers from within the government.

The Ministry of Finance gave each selected volunteer one hundred PSCs, which they could use at local businesses participating in the program. Participants were able to make payments by scanning a QR code on their mobile phones.