Brazilians Spent Almost USD 1Bn on Crypto in May, Digital Real Pilot to Begin in 2023

Brazilians have spent more money than ever buying cryptoassets this year – and in May shattered previous spending records by shelling out a combined USD 912 million on coins.

Per the media outlet Portal de Bitcoin, the data was released by the nation’s Central Bank, which is yet to compile and release figures for June, July, and August.

The May 2022 figure dwarfs the previous record high – again per Central Bank data – which was reached exactly a year beforehand: in May 2021, when Brazilians bought USD 756 million.

The Central Bank keeps track of crypto purchases in a monthly report it calls the “Commercial Balance of Goods.”

Interestingly, perhaps, the bank categorizes all crypto-related purchases in its “imported goods” section, as it considers that “local production” of tokens through crypto mining efforts to be “statistically irrelevant.”

Digital real is undergoing testing

Meanwhile, the newspaper Globo reported that the Central Bank’s prototype digital fiat – the so-called digital real – will be ready for real-world testing “by the start of the second quarter of 2023.”

Testing is already under way in a behind-closed-doors pilot that is being conducted – along with crypto, blockchain, and banking firms. 

The bank’s President, Roberto Campos Neto, has already indicated that these existing tests are expected to continue until January 2023. After this point, the testing will be wrapped up and the bank will perform proof of concept-related evaluations before launching real-world testing.

The next, real-world stage of the pilot, the bank told Globo, will begin in 2023 and “run until the end of the following year.” The bank also added that “only a few participants” would have access to the digital real, and that only “limited amounts” of the coin would be minted.

The bank says that its project will help boost financial inclusion in the digital age – and will be of particular benefit to unbanked individuals.

The Central Bank has refused to put a timeline on a nationwide rollout, and has claimed that its timing will depends on the success or otherwise of its tests.