These two Central American countries, inspired by El Salvador, are considering CBDCs
Crypto Pirates
English - September 09, 2021 22:48 - 3 minutes - 5.8 MBTechnology Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
El Salvador recognised Bitcoin as a national tender just two days ago, allowing it to coexist with the US Dollar. While many, especially Salvadorans, were dissatisfied, others emphasised a positive narrative.
According to Charles Hoskinson, many regions will follow El Salvador's lead. While cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin may be a step too far for the majority of countries, some may be taking the next best step.
Honduras and Guatemala in Central America are now investigating central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. According to Reuters,
“Honduras and Guatemala's central banks are considering digital currencies in the aftermath of El Salvador's legalisation of Bitcoin.”
In the case of Honduras, this is not a premature step. According to Wilfredo Cerrato, president of the country's central bank,
“The Central Bank of Honduras also recently began, following board approval, a feasibility study to examine the viability of conducting a pilot test issuing its own digital currency or a central bank digital currency.”
He stated that the Central American Monetary Council, or Consejo Monetario Centroamericano, should conduct an initial examination of the prospects of digital currency adoption. Meanwhile, the country previously established crypto-ATMs — a move that garnered widespread support from the crypto-community.
On the contrary, Vice President of the Banco de Guatemala, Jose Alfredo Blanco, stated that iQuetzal (the digital currency),
“will likely take an extended period of time to finish the enquiry phase.”
It is worth mentioning, however, that the group charged with working on the CBDC was formed only six months ago.
Central bank digital currencies have also gained popularity and adoption in a number of other regions throughout the world. Nigeria has only recently created the groundwork for this, with the e-Naira scheduled to start on 1 October.
Additionally, China and India, among others, have taken significant steps towards CBDC development.