Taiwan may start to test a central bank digital currency prototype as soon as the end of this year, the central bank said today.

The CBDC prototype would not employ blockchain or smart contracts. Rather, it's planned to be implemented through the Taiwanese digital ministry’s upcoming governmental “digital voucher” system.

Chin-Long Yang, governor of Taiwan’s central bank, said at a briefing at the parliament on Wednesday that the central bank plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Digital Affairs on the CBDC prototype that could be integrated into the digital ministry’s digital voucher platform. The Taiwanese government has previously issued stimulus vouchers to boost consumption.

Yang said that in the future, government agencies would be able to issue digital vouchers through the …