Members of SORAMITSU and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).
Second from right is TAKEMIYA Makoto, the CEO of the company,
and third from left is MIYAZAWA Kazumasa, its president.

Bakong is Cambodia’s mobile payment system using blockchain technology.
The name comes from Cambodia’s first temple mountain of sandstone, which isalso the prototype for the design of the Independence Monument. Therefore,
Bakong suggests a sense of freedom and self-determination for Cambodians.

THE DIGITALFINANCE PLATFORM
PIONEERING CONNECTIVITY ACROSS ASIA

Several years ago, a Japanese blockchain startup was launched out of the desire to create a new payment service.
The company has since helped launch Bakong, a mobile payment system using blockchain technology,
for the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).
In October 2020, Cambodia introduced a mobilepayment system using blockchain technology for
its central bank. Via a smartphone app, this system,
known as Bakong, can be used for all kinds ofremittances and payments for individual or corporate
customers. Transactions are instantaneous andrequire no fee.
Previously, few people in Cambodia had bankaccounts while many owned smartphones, creating acompetitive market in which private payment services
with limited interoperability coexisted chaotically.
At the same time, Cambodia’s national currency, theriel, had low rates of adoption, and foreign currencies
consequently enjoyed widespread use in the country.
The launch of Bakong was touted as a means to solve
such problems, establishing an inclusive and stablefinancial system for Cambodia.
That major project was supported by
SORAMITSU Co., Ltd., a Japanese startup
company established in 2016 that develops andintroduces the blockchain technology essential fordigital financial services. TAKEMIYA Makoto, anengineer who co-founded the company, said, “Manyyears ago, when I had to send a membership fee for aninternational conference from my bank, the process
made me realize just how long everything took andhow high the fees were. That experience inspired
me to create a new kind of money that was usable
worldwide online, eliminating needless time-wasting
and fees. From that point on, I decided to learn about
blockchain technology, and founded SORAMITSU.
Since then, we’ve made great progress in realizing ourvision through projects such as Hyperledger Iroha,SORA, and Fearless Wallet, which all provide toolsthat central banks can use for digitally transforming
their economies.”
Hyperledger Iroha is the open-source and free-touse blockchain platform developed by the firm forbussiness use. It has already been utilized in various
systems both in Japan and overseas, and, along withthose developed by IBM and Intel, is one of theblockchain platforms managed by the Hyperledger
Foundation—a
globalecosystem
fostering
blockchain technologies. With an uncomplicateddesign and being easy to install, the platform
is renowned for its high processing speed,reliability, and security. The National Bank ofCambodia (NBC) saw value in Hyperledger Iroha’s
performance and low cost, as well as the flexibilityand drive that come from a small startup firm. That
resulted in the bank choosing SORAMITSU to leadthe joint development of Bakong in April 2017.
Bakong, which supports both the Cambodian rieland the US dollar, has steadily grown in popularity
in the three years since its launch. As of this year, thesystem has 8.5 million registered accounts, more thanhalf of Cambodia’s population. Bakong is used inabout 1.5 million stores, at which payments grossed
15.5 billion dollars by the end of 2022. ProjectManager Zilya Yagafarova said, “Working closelywith the NBC team, I noticed that they were very
proud of their work. They were very happy to help
the people of their nation, and I was happy to help
them.”In February 2023, SORAMITSU launched thedemonstration experiment of a central bank digitalcurrency (CBDC) in Laos based on a system similar
to that of Cambodia’s Bakong, and the results will
be used to build an optimal system to address thechallenges of that country’s financial situation.
With the support of the Cabinet Secretariat andthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as well as
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, thefirm is also currently conducting basic research on
the potential CBDC needs of such countries as Fiji,Vanuatu, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, as wellas conducting a proof-of-concept demonstration with
the Solomon Islands. Going forward, the company
plans to roll out similar demonstration experiments
throughout the Pacific region and Southeast Asia.
SORAMITSU President MIYAZAWA Kazumasa
said, “Bakong can now be used in many stores in Laos,
Vietnam, and Thailand, where you can scan a 2D code
and automatically exchange money and pay using theBakong app. Many European countries share the euro
as a common currency, but in the future, perhaps
the financial systems of various Asian countries will
be connected in a transparent and accessible fashion
without the need for such a currency union.”
Soramitsu is an ancient Japanese word that, inone theory, means “to fill the sky.” Apparently, thecompany name was chosen because of the founders’idea of building​​
a blockchain encompassing theentire world. Before long, SORAMITSU’s blockchain
technology may be spreading its wings across Asia,strengthening ties throughout the region.
Zilya Yagafarova ofSORAMITSU in frontof Bakong Temple. She
began her career as an
IT technician andsystems business analyst
at a bank before joining
the company as a project
manager for Bakong.