Another one who wants to advance against the imminence of bitcoin (BTC). Peru is advancing in the creation of its own central bank digital currency (or CBDC, for its acronym in English), to respond to the changes that would be about to occur in the payment system of that country in the future.
This was revealed by the president of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP), Julio Velarde, during the Annual Conference of Executives (CADE), where he admitted that they were already working on a digital currency.
A CBDC, by definition, is a virtual asset issued and backed by countries' central banks. Examples of CBDC already exist, as in the Bahamas or Nigeria.
«The payment system that we are going to have in the world 8 or 10 years from now is going to be completely different from the current one. We have been working on a digital currency, ”Velarde commented.
The manager affirmed that to advance in this regard, the institution has been working with other central banks that consider that the use of digital assets will increase in the future.
“We are in a lot of projects with various central banks. We are with India, we are working with Singapore, with Hong Kong thinking of a digital currency, which will be the one that will be imposed in the future, "added the economist, to then clarify that although they will not be the first to have a CBDC, they don't want to be left behind.
According to Velarde, the Peruvian CBDC project is "more advanced" compared to other central banks. This is how he put it:
At least we are at the same level or advancing compared to our peers of the same size. We are further behind than Mexico and Brazil, perhaps, but more advanced than other European countries.
Julio Velarde, president of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP).
It isn't the first in Latin America
Peru's plans aren't new in Latin America. Other countries in the region have made progress in this regard given the imminent arrival of a digitized economy.
The most recent example was Chile, in September, which reported, via the Central Bank, that a working group had been formed focused on generating a digitalization strategy for the Chilean economy.
Through a press release, the institution stated that this group will have among its tasks to evaluate "the objectives, requirements and regulations for the development of a digital currency issued by the Central Bank", as recorded by CriptoNoticias.
In Colombia, although there is nothing properly said, there are hints, either for BTC or for a CBDC, noting that the country requires a payment infrastructure that connects and includes everyone with less cost than the existing options.
The Bahamas and other Caribbean countries also already have their CBDCs, this is the case of the Sand Dollar and the DCash. And if you talk about other countries, Sweden, South Korea and some from Africa have lent themselves to the technological advances protected under this new form of money.
But bitcoin is unstoppable and the fact that more countries join the creation of CBDC can mean two things: They want to curb the penetration of BTC or, frankly, they think of an economically novel future.
It seems that the first option looms more towards reality: a CBDC is controllable, a centralized object, managed by a State. Bitcoin, in contrast, is economic freedom, something that is not acceptable to everyone. It remains to be seen which way the governments take.
