Blockchian Payment Platform Launched By Mongolia’s Capital City

Blockchain, News | January 14, 2019 By:

The city of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, has teamed with South Korean blockchain project Terra to launch a blockchain payment system.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s largest city, is the country’s cultural, industrial and financial heart, the center of Mongolia’s road network and connected by rail to both the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia and the Chinese railway system. The city produces a variety of consumer goods and is responsible for about two-thirds of Mongolia’s total gross domestic product (GDP).

Terra describes itself as a protocol of money that ensures price-stability by algorithmically expanding and contracting supply. It is developing a price-stable digital currency that will be designed for mass adoption. In August 2018, it raised $32 million in seed funding led by a number of major crypto exchanges, including Binance and Houbi.

As part of the partnership, Ulaanbaatar will deploy a blockchain payment platform developed by Terra. The platform will reportedly launch with two features: a peer-to-peer payment system to allow transfer among users of different banks, as well as a mobile payment system to build the infrastructure for secure, contactless payments. The goal is to reinvent payments and banking in Mongolia by simplifying and securing the payment process with the click of a button, and providing other financial services such as “fast and low-cost remittance and lending.”

“Facilitating P2P and recurring utility payments with Terra are important first steps towards building a blockchain-based financial infrastructure in Mongolia,” said Daniel Shin, Co-founder of Terra. “From there, we will build out a wider range of financial services, reforming the remittance, loan, and overall banking industry. We are extremely honored to work closely with the Mongolian government and look forward to the launch of Terra in Ulaanbaatar.”

The pilot program will start in the city of Ulaanbaatar’s Nalaikh District, with plans to expand city-wide. Radnaabazar Choijinsambuu, Governor, Nalaikh District of the Capital City, said that they believe this pilot program will reform how the people of Nalaikh City make everyday payments.

“It will contribute to the development and enrichment of the nation’s digital payment infrastructure, while creating a new online platform to easily share information and offering great opportunities to connect with our citizens through advanced technology,” Choijinsambuu said. “We look forward to becoming the first customers of this blockchain payment system and setting into motion financial reform in the capital city.”