Chile Edging Closer to CBDC Launch
Chile is tentatively moving toward the launch of a CBDC, with the public seemingly firmly behind the central bank’s plans.
Per the media outlet Criptonoticias, the Central Bank of Chile (BCCh) is yet to commit to a CBDC launch.
However, a digital peso rollout is looking increasingly likely, with the BCCh announcing it is set to commence Proof-of-Concept (PoC) testing.
The central bank also conducted a survey. It said that it asked “the general public and representatives of the public and private sectors” for their CBDC-related opinions.
The BCCh said almost 90% of survey respondents had “a favorable attitude toward CBDC” pilots.
The bank said that “the main objective of the PoC” tests will be “gaining experience with technologies related to digital currencies.”
BCCh officials said initial tests would be conducted internally, without private sector support.
The bank added that it would only seek “external support” when it was ready to start real-world tests or roll out the coin.
Alberto Naudon, an advisor to the central bank, said that it was unlikely that a Chilean CBDC would face much competition from “so-called cryptocurrencies.”
Naudon said there was a very small probability that Bitcoin (BTC) or other tokens could be “used as money or a means of payment on a massive scale.”
Instead, he said that a digital peso would likely face more competition from stablecoins, some of which are “backed by large companies.”
Naudon said that “due to their characteristics,” stablecoins “clearly have the potential” to achieve “significant mass adoption.”
The media outlet noted that “in many countries” in the Latin American region, people use USD-pegged coins “more widely than BTC.”
The bank appears, like many of its international counterparts, to
Read more on cryptonews.com
