Ho Iat Seng: The central bank supports the research and development of the "Digital Macau Pataca" and expects to showcase its functions and applications by the end of this year.

The Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Ho Iat Seng, stated today that, with the support of the People's Bank of China, Macau is developing a digital Macau currency. The plan is to create a prototype system with basic functions by the end of this year and to demonstrate the functions and applications of the future digital Macau currency to the public. The Monetary Authority of Macau later added that to meet the development needs of the global digital economy era, the Macau authorities are upgrading the foundation of their legal currency and conducting research and development on digital Macau currency. The Monetary Authority pointed out that unlike other private cryptocurrencies, digital Macau currency is a digital form of legal tender, with the same legal status and currency value as physical Macau currency such as banknotes and coins, with zero credit risk. To ensure the security and stability of Macau's monetary system, the Monetary Authority will conduct sandbox tests with the prototype system, explore the application scenarios of digital Macau currency, assess various risks carefully, and formulate regulations that are suitable for the actual market conditions in Macau to make comprehensive preparations for the official launch of digital Macau currency in the future.