Banking giants, such as BTG Pactual and Santander, will also participate in Brazil's CBDC trials.
Banco Central do Brasil, the nation's central bank, has unveiled the fundamental participants for its impending central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial, scheduled to start in mid-June 2023. The list includes global corporate giants and national financial institutions.
Released on May 24th, the final roll-call includes 14 key participants, chosen from an initial pool of 36 bids involving over 100 institutions.
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The selected entities include standalone companies, as well as groups of corporations, offering a broad representation of interests and expertise.
Prominent among the chosen are US-based tech behemoth Microsoft, international payment system operator Visa, and Brazilian bank Banco Inter. The list of participants also features banking giants such as Santander, Itaú Unibanco, BTG Pactual, and Banco Bradesco.
The current stage of the digital real pilot will primarily test the privacy and programmability aspects of the CBDC platform. A focused use case will involve implementing a delivery versus payment protocol for federal public securities.
Unveiled officially in 2022, the Brazilian CBDC project aims to develop a digital currency, the value of which will be pegged to the nation's fiat currency, the real. It will have a fixed supply that will be minted over time.
With its 214-million-strong population, Brazil continues to be a hotspot for global crypto enterprises. This is evident from the recent collaborations between Binance and Mastercard to launch a prepaid crypto card and Coinbase's partnership with local payment providers to enable crypto transactions.
The latest nod from the central bank to Latam Gateway, Binance's payment provider in Brazil, to operate as a licensed payment institution and electronic money issuer further underscores the country's progressive approach towards digital currencies.
