The challenge in formulating a digital currency for the Central Bank is to ensure that the credit capacity of banks is not impaired, said this Monday the president of Brazil‘s Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto.
At an event about cryptocurrencies by Valor Capital Group, Campos Neto said that digital currency cannot erode banks’ deposit base.
According to him, to make monetization possible by banks with this new format, institutions will be able to issue stablecoins (digital currencies linked to tangible assets). He said these currencies would be able to be converted to digital real.
When in force, the BC itself will issue the digital real, with provision for use in retail payments. When releasing the project’s guidelines in 2021, the municipality said that the currency would work as an extension of the real.
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The pilot project was scheduled to be launched by the BC at the end of 2022, but there may be a postponement due to the strike of the municipality’s servers.
At this Monday’s event, Campos Neto also commented that he assessed cryptocurrencies in Brazil in the last two years. According to him, using these instruments as a means of payment grew below inflation, but their use as an investment tool grew a lot.
Translated by LABS