Ripple’s chief technology officer David Schwartz has said that a “major economy” is set to launch a CBDC in the next few weeks, as per Daiy Hodl January 27. A major global economy will soon announce a pilot program for a digital version of their currency, according to David Schwartz.
The CBDC will be used to “enable the next generation of digital payments” and is currently being tested by several banks, including HSBC, Credit Suisse, and UBS.
In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Ripple’s chief technology officer David Schwartz said that a “major economy” is set to launch a CBDC in the next few weeks, as per Daiy Hodl January 27.
A CBDC refers to a Central Bank Digital Currency or any cryptocurrency issued by a central bank or monetary authority. The development of CBDCs began in earnest when former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan floated the idea publicly in 2016, but it hasn’t yet materialized into an actual product on account of regulatory hurdles and other challenges.
Schwartz didn’t name the country that would launch its own digital currency first among major economies, but did say he thinks it will happen soon: “I think we will see more than one country do this.”
Ripple Wants More CBDC Engagements
In summer 2019, Ripple began collaborating with Banco de Mexico as part of its plans to develop and implement a CBDC prototype. According to sources familiar with the matter, this partnership is expected to lead to more CBDC announcements in the coming weeks.
While the cryptic tweet doesn’t give any further details about the partnership, it does indicate that this could be the first time that a major economy will launch a CBDC.
If so, then we can expect more announcements related to this partnership in the coming weeks and months. This would be another milestone for Ripple, which is looking to make its blockchain technology central to all types of financial transactions.
