OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eCurrency Mint Limited (eCurrency) announced today that it is contributing its seven-layer security architecture to an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) working group’s development of a reference architecture for digital fiat currency (DFC). This working group is tasked with outlining the framework for DFC, showing interoperability scenarios and integration into current payments systems.
The working group was established at the first meeting of the ITU Focus Group on Digital Currency including Digital Fiat Currency (FG DFC) held at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, 12-13 October 2017. The meeting was jointly hosted by ITU, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the Information and Communication Ministry, and the Digital Fiat Currency Institute.
“The first meeting of the Focus Group welcomed broad, enthusiastic support from both the public and private sectors,” said Bilel Jamoussi, chief of the ITU-T Study Groups Department. “We are in a strong position to encourage digital currency innovation with the support of all stakeholders, stakeholders that will come together in this Focus Group to build a common understanding of their respective roles in managing ICT-driven transformations of the financial system.”
The work of the FG DFC leverages the collaboration of all players in the ecosystem including Central Banks and financial standards bodies. The group has been created to establish guidelines for policy and regulation, study the impact on business and technology, and propose a reference architecture to ensure security.
In his keynote speech, Yao Qian, director of the PBOC’s Institute of Digital Money, defined DFC by four fundamental properties as follows (paraphrased and translated): “DFC is defined by (1) its value, which is anchored by the trust of the nation as the unit of account, (2) its cryptography, forming its technology base, (3) its algorithms, which are based on big data and artificial intelligence, and (4) its applications, which allow user experience and economic policies to be smarter.”
DFC is authorized and issued by a country’s Central Bank as legal tender, designed to offer the same security status and interoperable function as physical currency. It uses high-security cryptographic protocols to ensure that it cannot be counterfeited, while remaining fully transparent. This secure instrument can be held in all e-money wallets and transacted seamlessly within existing network infrastructure.
“eCurrency is honored to contribute our seven-layer architecture to the work of the ITU. Our digital fiat currency technology provides a secured and trusted electronic instrument for issuance by central banks,” said eCurrency Founder and CEO, Jonathan Dharmapalan. “The experience eCurrency has as a pioneer in this security technology is a valuable contribution to ITU’s mission to set standards and create an environment of technological innovation and preservation of trust in a digital form of fiat currency. It is important to safeguard financial integrity by creating a reference architecture as the shift to a digital economy is inevitable.”
About eCurrency:
eCurrency Mint Limited (eCurrency) enables central banks to securely and efficiently issue digital fiat currency to operate alongside notes and coins. eCurrency has pioneered the world’s first end-to-end solution for digital fiat currency issuance and circulation. The company combines hardware, software and cryptographic security protocols to provide central banks the tools they need to preserve their charter and doctrine as the sole issuer of the national currency in an increasingly digital economy. By enabling more secure and efficient digital transactions, eCurrency supports the huge economic opportunities presented by the global shift to digital payments, including increased transaction efficiency, financial inclusion and economic growth.
About FG DFC:
The ITU FG DFC, was established in 2017 by consensus of the ITU TSAG body and will serve as an open Focus Group for two years. The FG DFC offers an inclusive global forum for digital financial services stakeholders to study, share, and synthesize research and practical experience to guide analysis of digital fiat currency.
