Japanese lawmakers are pushing for a digital Yen

• The lawmakers are calling out for JPN to keep up with the launch of the Digital Chinese Yuan (CNY).
• A research expert at Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party believes that the JPN must be launched in the next two to three years.

Japanese lawmakers are increasingly calling for a Digital Japanese Yen (JPN) - a blockchain-based version of the Yen. The lawmakers are demanding this out of fear that the Japanese economy will not be able to keep up when China launches the Digital Chinese Yuan (CNY).

Having already finished the top-layer design and joint testing of the Digital CNY, China is expecting to launch the digital currency soon. Digital CNY has the potential to make the Chinese economy more efficient and liquid. Plus, it can also provide the country with a way to control large flows of money to stabilize the economy during times of crisis.

As a response to this, the former Japan Economy Minister Akira Amari has said that Japan needs to launch its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to counter the Digital CNY. Kozo Yamomoto, the Head of Banking and Finance System Research at Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, had noted that Japan has to issue Digital JPY within two to three years. He emphasized that the sooner the launch, the better it is for the Japanese economy. However, there has been no official announcement regarding JPY or the timeframe within which the project will be undertaken and completed.