The Central Bank of Brazil plans to roll out a pilot project for the national digital currency (CBDC) in the second half of 2022, according to regulator president Roberto Campos Neto.
The digital real would be pegged to the national payments system STR. According to Neto, the CBDC issuance would be limited, making it “similar to Bitcoin”.
“This [the use of STR in the digital real] is a way of digitising the currency that does not disrupt bank balances. The project should have some kind of pilot launch in the second half of the year,” the head of the central bank emphasised.
He added that he still regards cryptocurrencies as an investment asset rather than a means of payment. Their mass popularity could influence their status, Neto conceded.
In March, it emerged that the Central Bank of Brazil selected partners to help develop CBDC. Among them are the DeFi platform Aave, the local bitcoin exchange Mercado, as well as Santander Brasil and Itaú Unibanco.
The launch of the digital currency in 2022 was announced by the Bank of Jamaica.
Earlier, the BIS—along with the central banks of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa—developed two platform prototypes for cross-border settlements using multiple CBDCs.
As noted in April, Dinesh Shah, the Bank of Canada’s director of fintech research, questioned the need for international coordination in launching national digital currencies.
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