The President of the BCRP comments that the payment system will be digital in at least 10 years. The Peruvian CBDC project shows more advances compared to other central banks.
Another Country joins the race against the imminence of bitcoin (BTC). Peru is advancing in its central bank digital currency’s development to respond to the changes that would be about to happen in the payment system of that country in the future.
This information arrived from the president of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP), Julio Velarde, during the Annual Conference of Executives (CADE). The representative highlighted that they were already working on a digital currency. A CBDC is a virtual asset issued and supported by countries’ central banks. Examples of CBDC already exist, as is the one issued in the Bahamas.
Velarde commented that the payment system they are developing would be different from the current one because they currently focus on creating a digital currency.
The manager affirmed that to advance in this regard, the institution has been working with other central banks that consider that digital assets will increase in the future.
The manager also highlighted that there are a lot of projects with various central banks. They are working with Singapore, India, and Hong Kong, aiming at a digital currency, which will be the one that will get imposed in the future. The manager finally said that although they will not be the first to have a CBDC, they don’t want to be left behind.
It is not the first in Latin America
Peru’s plans are not new in Latin America. Other countries in the region made progress in this regard, given the imminent arrival of a digitized economy.
The most recent example was Chile. In September, The Central Bank highlighted that the entity was creating a working group focused on generating a digitalization strategy for the Chilean economy.
Through a press release, the institution stated that this group would have among its tasks to evaluate the goals, requirements, and regulations for the development of a digital currency issued by the Central Bank.
In Colombia, there is nothing said on the subject, just vague insinuations for BTC and CBDC, noting that the country requires a payment infrastructure that includes everyone at a lower cost than the existing options.
The Bahamas and other Caribbean countries already have their CBDCs, such as the Sand Dollar and the DCash. Other countries such as Sweden, South Korea, and some from Africa have lent themselves to the technological advances protected under this new form of money.
Bitcoin is unstoppable, and the fact that more countries are joining the creation of CBDC means that these countries desire to curb the penetration of BTC and think of an economically novel future.
It seems that the first option takes shape more towards reality: a CBDC is a controllable and centralized object managed by a State. Bitcoin, in contrast, represents economic freedom, a freedom that is not acceptable to everyone. It remains to know which way the governments would take.
By: Jenson Nuñez
