Brazil defines latest details of its central bank digital currency

Sandra Loyd

The governor of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, revealed this Wednesday, March 24, that his country has advanced discussions on what the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be like. The economist said that, although there are still issues to be defined, the debate is in a culmination phase.

«We are in the formal process of developing a CBDC in Brazil, we are advanced in the stages. I think the project involves some questions that have not been answered in all its parts, “said the executive during his speech at a virtual event promoted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) called” Financial Innovation in Latin America. “

For Campos Neto the doubts revolve around the type of issue that the digital currency would have. The authorities, apparently, have not defined what the supply would be like , if this should be exclusive to the central bank or if any financial institution can issue it.

The debate that the bank is carrying out is concentrated in a working group that was announced by the institution in August 2020. At that time, CriptoNoticias reported that Brazil was setting the standard in Latin America in relation to CBDCs.

Among the group’s functions are to propose a model to follow for the issuance of what would be the «digital real », Identify risk factors, promote financial inclusion To protect and protect user information. Campos Neto did not offer a tentative date for the presentation of the report. However, on Tuesday, March 23, he said that digital currencies have “various consequences” for monetary policy.

Mexico interested in CBDC, but without trouble

The governor of the Bank of Mexico, Alejandro Díaz de León, also intervened in the virtual panel. He referred to central bank digital currencies, but with a more distant issuance perspective. The official said that it is not a question of whether the country will do it or not, the discussion is focused on knowing how and when to do it.

The panel was moderated by Alexandre Tombini (Left), representative of the BIS for Latin America; in the center Díaz de León, from Banxico, and Campos Neto, from Brazil, on the right. Source: YouTube / drugsdave.

«The main aspects to attend to are the needs of consumers and how to protect them (…) we have to see what is the best solution technological for this. DLTs (distributed ledger technology) have the power to provide a solution since they are not centralized, “said the executive.

According to Díaz de León, regardless of the path that Mexico takes with respect to to the CBDCs, at the end of the day it’s about money, so he opined that the role of the central bank should be critical. For the governor, a “digital peso” would be nothing more than an extension of the currency that the State already provides , although with a “different face for users.”

The BIS, as The coordinating body of central banks on a global scale is promoting the creation of CBDCs. CriptoNoticias reported on March 24 that the institution presented, during the virtual event, new platforms to transfer digital currencies.

Several countries such as China or Lithuania, among others, already have advanced CBDC projects. In fact, the Asian country is leading the race for the issuance of digital currencies, a new form of money that is completely digitized, programmable and, in theory, with emission control.

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