MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is "studying" central bank-issued digital currencies and comparing notes with its counterparts to see its viability, an official said Friday.

The use of cryptocurrencies in central banks is "not a race" as the interest of public safety and a reliable payment system are their "overarching policy objective," BSP Deputy Governor Mert Tangonan told ANC.

"Cryptocurrency, or CBDC (central bank-issued digital currency), we have a technical working group that is studying, that has done research on CBDC and we are also comparing notes with other jurisdictions in the region," Tangonan said.

"And yes, it is very much in our horizon to see how and when it’s best to make this available," he added.

China is one of the pioneers to launch central bank digital currencies, which it reportedly wanted to further expand. It has been experimenting on digital currencies in select provinces.

Cryptocurrencies have gained popularity in recent years as well as the supposedly immutable ledger called blockchain.

Many users globally are trading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but many are also wary of the virtual money because of its volatility.

— with a report from Reuters

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