Poland: Banks On Their Way to Launch CBDC

Although sceptical about digital currencies in the past, there are indices that the largest retail bank in Poland started working on launching a cryptocurrency, while the Polish Central bank thinks of creating a CBDC.

According to Marta Gajęcka, a member of the Polish National Bank’s Management Board, the major concern about blockchain-based currencies was safety and reliability. This summer, Gajęcka declared that although NBP (Narodowy Bank Polski, a.k.a. Polish National Bank) considers it impossible to guarantee safety when it comes to crypto assets, they are carefully observing the results of such efforts in the neighbouring countries.

By the end of the year, however, opinions inside the NBP seem to have changed course towards a more positive stance. The bank announced that it will soon start the procedure of developing a new CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), adding that the central financial authorities in surrounding countries are doing the same.

According to the NBP spokesperson, the first step is to analyze the feasibility of introducing such a currency. The analysis will probably take the whole of 2022, and the results are expected by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the largest bank in the country PKO BP started a procedure of registering a trademark for the symbol of its future digital coin PLCOIN at the Patent Office. As soon as the event was published in the local financial news, it was considered to be an obvious sign that the bank is serious about launching a cryptocurrency.

Several years ago, this Polish bank registered a few cryptocurrency names (Poland coin, Pola coin, PLCoin, among others), however, without a graphic symbol. Despite the fact that it didn’t launch any cryptocurrency at the time, the bank stated that the names were registered and reserved as a precaution, in case the bank ever decides to launch one.

If it turns out that PKO BP is launching a cryptocurrency, it would be a major event for the Polish crypto industry. The bank has over 11 million customers, with total savings of $77.3 billion. Having the ability to invest safely and easily in PLCOIN could introduce millions of Polish citizens to crypto market.