Brazilian central bank turns to private companies to develop digital real
07RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After receiving nearly 50 project proposals from companies in Brazil, Germany, the U.S., Israel, Mexico, Portugal, the U.K., and Sweden, the Brazilian central bank has selected its new partners to work on a digital real (CBDC).
The nine partners include decentralized financial platform (DeFi) Aave, Brazil-based digital asset exchange Mercado Bitcoin, and renowned banks Santander Brasil and Itaú Unibanco.
NINE PROJECTS WILL OPERATE IN THE BRAZILIAN DIGITAL REAL
While the remaining projects were not mentioned, the LIFT Challenge website revealed the rest of the list, as reported by CryptoBriefing. The partners include Brazilian banking association Febraban, German payments company Gieseck+Devrient, and Brazil-based banking service Tecban and its partner Capitual.
LIFT Challenge is an innovation program launched by the Brazilian Central Bank in collaboration with the National Federation of Central Bank Servicers Associations (Fenasbac) to bring together financial institutions and interested market participants for the development and study of a CBDC. One project involves collaborating between Brazil’s Visa, Microsoft and blockchain company ConsenSys. A final partnership involves Vert, software company Digital Asset and management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
The nine projects from the companies above were selected for the implementation phase. This phase is expected to start on March 28 next year and last until July 27, 2022.
The Brazilian Central Bank told the media that it wants to evaluate use cases for a CBDC and its technological feasibility as part of the collaboration. CoinDesk quotes, “Given the large number of projects of importance and interest for developing the true digital initiative, the selection process sought to strike a balance between the diversity of the portfolio of proposals submitted to the lab and the need for detailed monitoring of the selected projects.”
BRAZIL IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF CRYPTOGRAPHY.
The news suggests that Latin America’s leading economy is planning to issue a CBDC. Last November, Brazil’s central bank announced it would launch a pilot program for a national digital currency starting in 2022. At the time, it said a final product could be ready by 2024.
Like other CBDCs, the Brazilian project would be backed by the country’s official currency, the Brazilian real (BRL).
“Our goal is to clarify what the partnership requires from Real Digital. After that, we will soon move to the testing phase with a proof of concept and possibly an innovation lab, which should take place during 2022,” Fabio Araujo, a bank representative, had previously stated.
Aside from efforts to create a central bank digital currency, Brazil has become a pioneer in digital assets in the region. The city of Rio de Janeiro plans to invest 1% of its treasury in Bitcoin, as proposed by the city’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, in January. At the same time, lawmakers are seeking to enact specific regulations for the growing sector, Diario Bitcoin reports.
The Senate’s Committee on Economic Affairs (CAE) recently approved a bill to regulate the digital currency market. This is the first time the Senate will vote on a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies. It is worth noting that Brazil was the first country in Latin America to introduce a Bitcoin ETF last year.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
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| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBOV | 168,498.45 | +1.39% | +9.89% | 166,191.45 | — | — | — |
| USD/BRL | 5.51 | -0.03% | +3.27% | 5.51 | 5.51 | 5.50 | — |
| SELIC | 13.75% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| PETR4 | 45.36 | +0.00% | +46.28% | 45.36 | 45.36 | — | — |
| VALE3 | 64.04 | +0.00% | -2.23% | 64.04 | 64.04 | — | — |
| ITUB4 | 40.53 | +0.00% | +4.03% | 40.53 | 40.53 | — | — |
| BBDC4 | 14.20 | +0.00% | -24.10% | 14.20 | 14.20 | — | — |
| BBAS3 | 17.13 | +0.00% | -25.07% | 17.13 | 17.13 | — | — |
| B3SA3 | 14.39 | +0.00% | +9.85% | 14.39 | 14.39 | — | — |
| ABEV3 | 15.48 | +0.00% | +18.35% | 15.48 | 15.48 | — | — |
| WEGE3 | 48.19 | +0.00% | +9.75% | 48.19 | 48.19 | — | — |
| PRIO3 | 60.48 | +0.00% | +57.25% | 60.48 | 60.48 | — | — |
| SUZB3 | 53.40 | +2.12% | +9.76% | 52.29 | 53.42 | 50.10 | 13,908,400 |
| RENT3 | 30.29 | +0.00% | -26.39% | 30.29 | 30.29 | — | — |
| AZZA3 | 14.76 | +4.98% | -47.66% | 14.06 | 15.19 | 13.80 | 4,143,600 |
| CSNA3 | 4.41 | +0.00% | -48.12% | 4.41 | 4.41 | — | — |
| GGBR4 | 24.15 | +0.00% | +26.31% | 24.15 | 24.15 | — | — |
| ENEV3 | 26.84 | +0.00% | +40.16% | 26.84 | 26.84 | — | — |
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