In a significant development, Hedera, an open-source public network, has completed a successful stablecoin remittance proof-of-concept (PoC) pilot. The pilot was a collaboration between Shinhan Bank, South Korea’s first modern bank, SCB TechX, a technology innovation unit of Siam Commercial Bank, and a leading Taiwanese financial institution.
The pilot achieved real-time settlement and foreign exchange rate integration across the Thai Baht, New Taiwan dollar, and South Korean won, marking a significant stride in the quest for efficient, low-cost, cross-border payments. This PoC is a continuation of Shinhan Bank’s previous work that started in 2021 when it partnered with Standard Bank on stablecoin international remittances. The success of the second pilot marks a significant milestone in the quest for efficient, low-cost, cross-border payments.
Byunghee Kim, Chief of the Blockchain division at Shinhan Bank, expressed his satisfaction with the partnership with Hedera, stating:
We are pleased to have partnered with Hedera to explore the potential of stablecoins as a means of facilitating cross-border remittances. The successful completion of this second PoC marks an important step forward in our efforts to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible to people around the world.
Kim underscored the significance of utilizing blockchain technology in cross-border transactions. He pointed out that stablecoins provide an affordable, swift, and dependable method for international value transfer, which could enhance financial inclusivity and broaden the reach of financial services to individuals and businesses in underprivileged areas.
In a similar vein, Trirat Suwanprateeb, the CEO of SCB TechX, reiterated Kim’s views on the potential of stablecoins to foster financial inclusion. Suwanprateeb emphasized that stablecoins, with their affordability, speed, and reliability, could facilitate cross-border value transfer, thereby promoting financial inclusivity and expanding access to financial services for individuals and businesses in marginalized communities.
In related news, Hedera also introduced MetaMask support through the groundbreaking HIP-583. This integration allows Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) users to transition seamlessly to the robust and scalable Hedera ecosystem. This development is a part of Hedera’s broader strategy to enhance the developer experience and prepare its ecosystem for wider interoperability and adoption across web3.
The new capabilities enabled by the JSON-RPC at Hedera include support for JSON-RPC-enabled wallets and apps, transfer of HBAR to/from 0x accounts, updated ‘token associations’ for greater usability, and EVM tooling compatibility. This marks a significant step in the financial industry’s exploration of blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to transform cross-border payments.
