Brazilian Central Bank: CBDC Designed to Help New Businesses

The Brazilian Central Bank says that its central bank digital currency (CBDC) – the digital real – is being designed to help now domestic businesses grow. The bank is also looking to tighten the regulations surrounding cryptoassets.

The newspaper O Globo reported that Roberto Campos Neto, the bank’s governor, confirmed that the digital real is set to begin the first stage of its pilot in March.

And Campos Neto claimed that the Brazilian digital currency model was being created with the aim of “fostering new business” in the financial services sector. He claimed that this model was “unlike” those being used in “other countries.”

Campos Neto was quoted as stating:

“Our idea is to have something up and running by 2024 at the latest.”

Brazilian Central Bank’s CBDC and Crypto Regulation Plans

On the crypto front, the governor stated that the Central Bank was “working hard” with the regulatory Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) on the policing of cryptoassets.

He said:

“It is important for us to be 100% aligned with the CVM [on the matter of crypto regulation].”

Campos Neto further claimed that, “approximately a year ago,” he took part in a meeting on cryptoassets – along with the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

The governor claimed that he had told Yellen that he noticed certain “problems” with the crypto sector.

One of these pertains to custody – which he claimed was “overly concentrated.”

Campos Netto claimed that custodians should not be exposed to risk. And he claimed that if banks had been allowed to “become cryptoassets custodians,” it is possible that the FTX “problem” might have been averted.

And the governor claimed that the Central Bank was currently working on an “instant payment” solution with partners in Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, and Ecuador.

The nations want to find more effective ways to enable trading partners in the LATAM region to process “recurring payments.”

Authorities in Brazil and Argentina have discussed creating a shared currency, with crypto advocates suggesting they shelve the plan in favor of adopting bitcoin (BTC).