Tech roundup: Brazil begins testing digital currency projects

Welcome to our Tech roundup, with the biggest stories on technology and innovation in Brazil. This week: Brazil’s first central bank-issued digital currency initiatives, while Revolut and N26 plan risky moves into the country.

Central Bank begins testing digital currency projects

Last week, Brazil’s Central Bank officially started execution on projects selected by the special edition of the LIFT Challenge innovation lab, focused on evaluating use cases for the awaited digital Real, a virtual version of the country’s currency.

Why it matters. “With the tests that we will carry out in the LIFT Challenge, several questions will be clarified, many about the uses of the digital currency technology, but mainly about the technological specifications of the platform that will serve as support for the following phases of the initiative,” explains Fabio Araujo, coordinator of the digital currency initiative at the Central Bank.

What happens next? According to Mr. Araujo, the lab is expected to last for four months, after which it is expected that products will be mature enough to be able to initiate pilot tests with the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

These tests should also take place in a staggered fashion over the next year, which means that initially, only a portion of the population will have access to the digital currency and its technologies. Over time, this sample will increase. 

• Roberto Campos Neto, the institution’s chairman, believes the CBDC will be fully operational by 2024.

New calendar. Originally, the laboratory phase was scheduled to run from March to July, but the monetary institution decided to suspend the schedule due to a civil servants’ strike, which started in April, lasted three months, and delayed dozens of economic publications.

About the projects. Of the 43 proposals submitted, nine were chosen for the current phase....