BRAZIL

On November 30, the last webinar of the “Real Digital” series that began in July of this year was held and discussed with the society the general guidelines for a digital currency for Brazil. On this occasion the topic was “Technologies for issuance and compatibility with existing arrangements.” Participating in the panel were: Matthieu Saint Olive, Product Manager at ConsenSys; Ricardo Correia, global director of digital currencies at R3; and Seidemann Wolfram, CEO of G + D Currency Technology. It was also moderated by Arístides Andrade Cavalcante Neto, deputy director of the BC’s Information Technology Department. If you would like to participate in the LIFT Challenge, please click here.

The closing speech was given by the President of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto. He expressed the need for the Real Digital to be conceived as the basis of an intelligent payment platform in order to add value to the solutions already offered by the current payment system to the Brazilian population. He also indicated that the quest to install the Real Digital is a long-term initiative that depends on the maturity of various agencies such as:

• Agenda BC#, mainly in the actions most directly linked to Real Digital, such as Pix and Open Banking;
• The national markets, which have begun to show demand for new technologies, but are still in the early stages of development; and
• The international debate on the subject, which has made clear the need to weigh the potentials and risks for country-specific applications.

The President of the Central Bank, in addition, announced the launch of the LIFT Challenge Real Digital that will be configured as a collaborative virtual environment by bringing together a mature audience of payment institutions, banks, fintechs and technology companies. Held by the National Federation of Central Bank Servicers Associations (Fenasbac in Portuguese), in partnership with the Central Bank, these challenges bring together market participants interested in developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the development of innovative solutions that benefit the population and the functioning of the Financial System.