A report presented to Sri Lankan central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal on Monday detailed the results of a now-completed Know-Your-Customer, or KYC, proof-of-concept project.

The project Sri Lanka'southward central banking concern, known every bit the CBSL, included 3 collaborators who developed the blockchain-based KYC platform concept. The KYC platform was also tested by the CBSL and ten regional and international commercial banks, including Amana Bank, Bank of Ceylon, Cargills Bank, Commercial Bank of Ceylon, DFCC Depository financial institution, Hatton National Bank, HSBC, National Development Bank, People's Bank and Standard Chartered Banking company. The team initiated the project in July 2022 and completed the development and testing of the experimental platform on June x of this year.

"Nosotros invited software companies to develop a shared KYC PoC free of charge, as a national projection. The response to join this project, both locally and internationally, has been extremely heartening and we are happy to say that we accept finalised selecting suitable applicants to begin development shortly," stated Cardinal Banking concern director of Payments and Settlements D. Kumaratunge.

The project was part of a larger Sri Lankan government initiative, titled Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor, under the country'due south National Policy FrameWork. As reported by Crypto Daily UK, the Minister of Project Coordinating and Monitoring Namal Rajapaksa, proposed a new "crypto ommittee" to oversee the exploration into the possibilities of using blockchain and crypto mining into Sri Lanka's plans to create a more digital society.

Similar many countries effectually the world, Sri Lanka has suffered serious economic impacts due to the ongoing global pandemic. Authorities statistics advise that the land is at present recovering from its -sixteen.four GDP growth dorsum in Q2 2022. It has lost over $400 one thousand thousand in income from the tourist industry, however, and $i.3 billion from overseas employment during the pandemic.

Sri Lanka's recent economic uncertainty appears to have been the driving force behind its interest in cryptocurrency and the government's new exploration into KYC technology. The book of the Sri Lankan Rupee on the peer-to-peer commutation Paxful went through the roof in 2022. The land'southward fasten in cryptocurrency trading and investing led the Sri Lankan government to issue a alarm to the public regarding the hazards of investing in cryptocurrencies.

The Sri Lankan government'southward crypto-centric exploration echoes the regulatory actions of other governments around the world. A taxation provision in Usa President Joe Biden's stalled Infrastructure nib has worried many in the U.S. blockchain industry. Too reported by Reuters in July, the EU appear the formation of a new agency to crack down on money laundering and increase transparency in cryptocurrency.

The CBSL has taken stronger regulatory steps in recent years since information technology had been put on the G7's intergovernmental Fiscal Action Task Forcefulness, or FATF "Grayness List" in 2022 for non-compliance in four areas: International Cooperation, Supervision, Legal Persons and Arrangements and Targeted Financial Sanctions on Proliferations. The country was taken off FAFT'south grayness listing in October of 2022.