Cash is still king in Japan, and that means the central bank doesn¡¯t see a need to mint a digital currency for now, according to the head of the FinTech Center at the Bank of Japan.
¡°We aren¡¯t at the stage of considering issuing a digital currency because there is no demand,¡± said Yuko Kawai, the head of the BOJ division, in an interview last week. ¡°To begin with, do we really need a digital currency in the nation where cashless living isn¡¯t making much progress?¡±
Kawai speaks from experience ¡ª since taking over the job about a year ago, she¡¯s tried to stop using cash in her personal life. But while life is ¡°much easier¡± without needing an ATM so often, there are many things that still require physical money. If you want to split the cost of dinner with friends, or pay for a taxi in rural Japan, she said, you need cash.
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