# Bakong

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/bakong
> research date 2026-05-29 · extracted at 2026-10-04
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [National Bank of Cambodia — official](https://www.nbc.gov.kh/)
- [NBC × Hyperledger Iroha — case study](https://www.lfdecentralizedtrust.org/case-studies/soramitsu-case-study)
- [Cambodia digital currency — Soramitsu](https://soramitsu.co.jp/cambodia-bakong/)
- [Bakong — World Economic Forum](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/01/cambodia-hybrid-digital-currency-blockchain-bakong/)

## Overview

> **Note on classification.** This entry was originally bucketed as a QR standard, but bakong is **not a QR-symbol standard** — it is a blockchain-based settlement rail (see khqr for the QR layer). Reclassified as `Blockchain`. The wiki shows no playground because there is no QR payload to encode; the slug is retained to avoid breaking incoming links.

**Bakong** is **Cambodia's national blockchain-based payment platform**, launched **28 October 2020** by the **National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)** in partnership with **Soramitsu** (Japanese blockchain developer) using the **Hyperledger Iroha** permissioned distributed-ledger framework <sup>[1][1], [2][2], [3][3], [Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>. Bakong is the **foundational interbank rail** that **[KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr)** (Cambodia's national EMV QR standard) sits on top of — making it analogous to how India's UPI rail sits beneath [UPI QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-qr), or how Singapore's FAST sits beneath [PayNow QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/paynow-qr).

A widely-cited but contested classification question: **is Bakong a CBDC?** Despite frequent press characterisation as Cambodia's central bank digital currency, **NBC officially clarified that Bakong is NOT a CBDC** — it is "a common platform for commercial banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and payment service providers (PSPs) to deliver e-wallet and money transfer services" <sup>[1][1]</sup>. By 2024, Bakong had achieved extraordinary scale: **30 million wallets**, **608 million transactions worth US $104.81 billion** (**330 % of Cambodia's GDP**), **+95 % growth YoY**, and **4.5 million accepting merchants** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>. Cross-border QR interoperability with **Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, India** makes Bakong one of the most cross-border-active payment rails globally — alongside [TWQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/twqr) and [UPI QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-qr).

## History

**Background — Cambodia's payment landscape pre-Bakong** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>:
- **Highly dollarised economy** — US dollar circulated alongside Cambodian riel; ~90 % of bank deposits were USD.
- NBC strategic goal: **de-dollarise** the economy, promote riel usage.
- Banking penetration low: **~78 % of citizens unbanked**, yet **>50 % owned smartphones** — the conditions for mobile-first leapfrog.

**2017-2019 — Bakong design + pilot** <sup>[3][3], [4][4]</sup>:
- NBC engages **Soramitsu** (Tokyo-based blockchain firm) to architect the system.
- Choice of **Hyperledger Iroha** — a permissioned, BFT-consensus DLT framework with strong account/asset management primitives.
- **18 July 2019** — pilot testing begins.

**28 October 2020 — Bakong officially launches** <sup>[2][2], [3][3], [4][4]</sup>:
- NBC launches Bakong as a real-time mobile payment system.
- **Dual-currency**: supports both USD and KHR (Cambodian riel).
- Closed-loop permissioned blockchain — only authorised FIs can write transactions; no public mining.

**2020+ — rapid adoption** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>:
- Three years post-launch (~2023): 25+ million transactions, $15B+ value (per NBC reporting).
- Continued accelerating; by 2024, **608M transactions / $104.81B**.

**Cross-border expansion (KHQR/Bakong as foundation)** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>:
- Cross-border QR partnerships with **Singapore (NETS)**, **Japan (PayPay/UnionPay)**, **South Korea (BC Card)**, **Malaysia ([DuitNow QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/duitnow-qr))**, **Thailand ([PromptPay QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/promptpay-qr))**, **India ([UPI QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-qr))**.
- This **6-country cross-border footprint** is among the largest of any national QR-rail globally.

**2024 macro statistics** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>:
- **30 million Bakong wallets**.
- **4.5 million accepting merchants**.
- **608 million transactions** worth **US $104.81 billion**.
- **330 % of Cambodian GDP** flowing through Bakong annually — astonishing penetration.
- **+95 % YoY** growth.
- **57 financial institutions** as Bakong members.

## Technical specification

Bakong is built on **Hyperledger Iroha permissioned DLT** <sup>[2][2], [3][3], [4][4]</sup>:

| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| **Operator** | **National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)** |
| **Technology partner** | **Soramitsu** (Tokyo, Japan) |
| **Distributed-ledger framework** | **Hyperledger Iroha** (permissioned BFT DLT) |
| **Consensus** | YAC (Yet Another Consensus) — BFT |
| **Currencies** | KHR (Cambodian riel) + USD |
| **Settlement** | Real-time |
| **Participants** | 57 FIs (banks, MFIs, PSPs) |
| **QR overlay** | [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) — Cambodia's national EMV QR standard |
| **Cross-border** | SG (NETS), JP, KR, MY ([DuitNow QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/duitnow-qr)), TH ([PromptPay QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/promptpay-qr)), IN ([UPI QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-qr)) |

**Hyperledger Iroha specifics** <sup>[2][2], [4][4]</sup>:
- **Account-based** model (not UTXO).
- Native support for **multi-currency assets** — critical for KHR + USD coexistence.
- **Closed-loop permissioned**: only authorised member institutions can append to the ledger.
- **YAC consensus** — Byzantine-fault-tolerant, faster than Proof-of-Work, deterministic finality.

**Why "not a CBDC" per NBC's own characterisation** <sup>[1][1], [4][4]</sup>:
- Bakong does NOT issue new fiat money — it's a settlement layer atop existing bank deposits.
- Funds in Bakong wallets are backed by deposits at participating commercial banks/MFIs.
- This makes Bakong structurally a **wholesale-DLT-with-retail-overlay**, not a true CBDC like the e-CNY or eNaira.

**Cross-border architecture** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>:
- Bilateral / multilateral linkages with each partner rail.
- Cambodian customers can scan a [PromptPay QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/promptpay-qr) in Thailand; Thai customers can scan [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) in Cambodia — both settled in their home currency.

## Use cases

**P2P transfers** <sup>[1][1], [Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>: Send to any Bakong wallet via phone number — dominant use case for unbanked-to-banked transfers, dollar-to-riel, etc.

**P2M merchant payments** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: 4.5M+ merchants accept Bakong via [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) QR — small shops, restaurants, market vendors. Bakong's strategic raison-d'être.

**Cross-border (in/out-bound tourism + remittance)** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>: Cambodian tourist in Thailand scans [PromptPay QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/promptpay-qr); Thai/Malaysian/Indian tourist in Cambodia scans [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr). Each pays in home currency.

**De-dollarisation** <sup>[4][4]</sup>: NBC's strategic objective — Bakong's KHR convenience reduces incentive to hold/transact in USD. Has measurably moved KHR usage upward since 2020.

**Bill payment, government services, utility** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>: Bakong-integrated public-sector flows.

**Cross-bank, cross-MFI, cross-PSP** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>: 57 FIs participating means a Bakong wallet user can transact with any other Bakong wallet user regardless of which institution issued it.

## Implementations & ecosystem

**Operator**: **National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)**.

**Technology partner**: **Soramitsu** (Japan) — Hyperledger Iroha contributors and Bakong architects.

**57 Bakong members** include <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup>:
- **ACLEDA Bank** — largest commercial bank, [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) operator
- **Canadia Bank**, **ABA Bank**, **PPC Bank**, **Sathapana Bank**
- Plus 52 additional banks, MFIs, and PSPs

**No public open-source SDK from NBC**, but Hyperledger Iroha is OSS — third parties can study the underlying DLT framework.

## Fun facts

- **Not a CBDC despite the headlines**: Press worldwide labelled Bakong a CBDC alongside the Sand Dollar and Bahamian crypto experiments; **NBC has explicitly clarified it is NOT a CBDC** — a wholesale-DLT-backed e-wallet system, not new sovereign money issuance. A useful taxonomic case study.
- **Hyperledger Iroha — Japanese provenance**: Soramitsu, a Tokyo-based firm, is a primary contributor to Iroha and chose Cambodia as a flagship national-scale deployment. The Cambodia-Japan technical partnership has expanded into broader fintech cooperation.
- **330 % of GDP flowing through Bakong annually**: An extraordinary penetration metric. Compare with [M-Pesa KE](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/m-pesa-ke) (~50 % of Kenyan GDP via M-Pesa) and Bakong is structurally deeper.
- **6-country cross-border footprint**: Among the most cross-border-active national rails — partly because Cambodia's small size + tourism dependence makes cross-border interop strategically critical.
- **30M wallets in a 17M-population country**: Average **~1.8 wallets per Cambodian** — many people hold accounts at multiple FIs that all interconnect via Bakong.
- **78 % unbanked → 30M wallets**: Bakong achieved mobile-money-level financial inclusion at central-bank-rail scale, leapfrogging the traditional banking-account-first path.
- **+95 % YoY in 2024**: Among the fastest-growing major national payment rails globally — a steeper curve than even India's [UPI QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-qr) at equivalent maturity.
- **Hyperledger Iroha + YAC consensus**: One of the few national payment rails running on a permissioned BFT DLT (most run on traditional databases). Cambodia's tech-choice is a real-world stress test of DLT-for-national-payments.

## Comparison

| Feature | Bakong (KH) | [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) (KH overlay) | [UPI QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-qr) (IN) | [M-Pesa KE](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/m-pesa-ke) (KE) | [Sand Dollar](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/sand-dollar) (BS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | Oct 2020 | 2020 (atop Bakong) | 2016 | 2007 | Oct 2020 |
| Operator | NBC (central bank) | NBC/ACLEDA | NPCI | Safaricom | Central Bank of Bahamas |
| Tech | Hyperledger Iroha DLT | EMVCo MPM | NPCI proprietary | Closed loop | DLT (mDigital Currency) |
| Status | Wholesale DLT + retail overlay | National QR | National rail | Mobile-money MNO | Retail CBDC |
| 2024 volume | 608M txns / $104.81B | n/a (subset of Bakong) | UPI $2.4T+ | n/a | Small |
| % GDP | 330 % | n/a | substantial | ~50 % | small |
| Cross-border | 6 countries | Via Bakong | Multiple | Vodafone group | None |

**Closest peer**: [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) — Bakong is the **underlying rail**; [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) is the **QR overlay**. They are inseparable in practice.

**Structural distinction**: Bakong is one of the few **national payment rails built on permissioned DLT** — a real-world validation of Hyperledger Iroha at retail scale.

## Status

**Active, extraordinary scale** <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH), [3][3]</sup>:
- **30M wallets**; **4.5M merchants**; **57 FIs**.
- **608M transactions / $104.81B value in 2024** (330 % of Cambodian GDP).
- **+95 % YoY growth**.
- **Cross-border with SG, JP, KR, MY, TH, IN**.
- **Hyperledger Iroha DLT** infrastructure (Soramitsu).
- **NOT a CBDC** per NBC clarification.

**Outlook**: Continued scaling toward Bakong-as-payment-default in Cambodia, deeper cross-border integrations (likely Vietnam, Laos), and probable Soramitsu-Bakong technology being marketed to other emerging-market central banks.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.nbc.gov.kh/ "National Bank of Cambodia"
[2]: https://www.lfdecentralizedtrust.org/case-studies/soramitsu-case-study "NBC × Hyperledger Iroha — Linux Foundation"
[3]: https://soramitsu.co.jp/cambodia-bakong/ "Cambodia digital currency — Soramitsu"
[4]: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/01/cambodia-hybrid-digital-currency-blockchain-bakong/ "Bakong — WEF"

- [1] [NBC official][1]
- [2] [Soramitsu × Iroha case study][2]
- [3] [Cambodia digital currency — Soramitsu][3]
- [4] [WEF Bakong analysis][4]
- <sup>[Cambodia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)</sup> `reports/countries/KH-cambodia.md`

## Deployments

Found in the following country reports (grep across `reports/countries/`):

- **KH** — [KH-cambodia.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/KH)
- **MY** — [MY-malaysia.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/MY)