🪙 CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES (CBDC) IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 🌎
CBDCs are electronic forms of fiat money issued by a central bank, backed by the State and recorded on digital platforms or blockchain networks. Economically, they complement cash and bank deposits, designed to enhance payment efficiency and financial inclusion.
Technologically, they are usually based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) such as blockchain, ensuring traceability and security.
Current regional status
Most central banks in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) consider CBDCs as part of payment modernization.
The Bahamas launched the “Sand Dollar” in 2020, and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) along with Jamaica issued their own retail CBDCs.
Brazil started a pilot of “digital real” focused on asset tokenization.
In addition to the mentioned island cases, the Central Bank of Brazil published the code of its digital real pilot on GitHub.
Regulation is under development. By 2022, 12 of the 19 jurisdictions analyzed had special regulatory frameworks for digital assets or CBDCs.
The Bahamas approved the DARE Act for its digital assets in 2020, and the ECCB modified its banking legislation to recognize DCash.
Although CBDCs are expected to reduce remittance costs and improve financial inclusion, their initial use is low.
National central banks (Bahamas, ECCB, Brazil) lead the way.
Multilateral organizations (IMF, IDB, BIS) support with studies and technical cooperation.
The private sector (tech and financial firms) collaborates on platforms and wallets.
The region stands out: CBDCs aim to improve payment efficiency and financial inclusion, but their success requires solid frameworks that mitigate macro-financial risks.
Adoption usually relies on widespread public-private hybrid schemes, as highlighted by the BIS.
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