Global: Central Bank of Brazil Selects Partners to Assist With CBDC

The Central Bank of Brazil has chosen nine partners to help develop a digital real, Brazil’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Among the partners are crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin, Santander Brasil, Itaú Unibanco and Aave, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform.

The initiative received 47 project proposals from Brazil, Germany, the U.S., Israel, Mexico, Portugal, the U.K. and Sweden, the central bank said in a statement on Thursday, noting that it is seeking to evaluate use cases for a CBDC and assess its technological feasibility.

In November, the central bank said it planned to start a CBDC pilot program in 2022 and introduce a final version in 2024.

“Given the large number of projects of relevance and interest for the development of the real digital initiative, the selection process sought a balance between the diversity of the portfolio of proposals submitted to the lab and the need for detailed monitoring of the chosen projects,” the central bank said in a statement.

An implementation phase for the selected projects will begin on March 28 and last until July 27, the central bank noted.