The Central Bank of Brazil has confirmed the inclusion of Visa and Santander as the latest payment firms to join its development project of a potential native central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The bank will oversee the development of 13 themes for the second phase of the Drex Pilot. So far, the CBDC project has proposed 42 use cases over the functionality of a digital Brazilian Real within its next phase.
The Central Bank will oversee 11 projects during the second phase, whilst the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission will preside over two.
A statement from the Central Bank of Brazil stated: “In the second phase of testing, the infrastructure created for the pilot will start testing the implementation of financial services, made available through smart contracts created and managed by third parties participating in the platform.
“The development of the selected themes should begin in the coming weeks, in a debate environment devoted to each of the themes where regulators and participants will be able to discuss the best implementation strategy, the governance of new services and evaluate the interaction of the available privacy solutions with the implementation of the proposed theme.”
Other companies alongside Visa and Santander in the CBDC project include Google, Microsoft, Nubank and many more.
These companies will look to find use cases and develop functionality by focusing on themes such as, but not limited to, transactions with credit and real estate, financing on trading bonds and international trade operations.
Throughout the third quarter of 2024, the Central Bank of Brazil will open application proposals from entities interested in participating in the Drex Pilot. Those selected should test the implementation of smart contracts by the end of the first half of 2025.
