The digital peso, Mexico’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), is unlikely to be ready before 2024, as the Mexican government announced in 2021. In a statement, representatives of Mexico’s central bank, Banxico, said the currency’s development is still in its early stages and no date has been set for its launch.
A launch date for the Mexican CBDC has not yet been determined
On December 29, 2021, the Mexican government announced via social media the development of its own digital peso, with a launch date around 2024. However, new information coming from Banxico, the country’s central bank, indicates that this timeline is becoming less likely to materialize.
According to local sources, the Mexican central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) is still in the early stages of development, and the bank’s department responsible for its construction, the Directorate General of Payment Systems and Market Infrastructure, has yet to determine its issuance requirements.
Regarding the date when digital pesos can be issued, Banxico said :
The results of this initial phase will include the creation of a budget, which is currently being determined, which in turn will establish the likely date that said CBDC will be available.
It was further revealed that more than $500,000 will be used to develop this currency during 2022, allocated from funds provided by Banxico.
Other Launch Date Estimates and Details
Other estimates have been made by various government officials regarding the launch date of Mexico’s CBDC; in April, Banxico President Victoria Rodríguez Ceja said that the entire development cycle would take about three years He stated that the entire development cycle would take about three years. This, however, contradicts the agency’s statement that no launch date for the digital peso had yet been set.
At the time, Rodriguez Ceja also established a clear distinction between future CBDCs and other cryptocurrencies, stating that they are unsupported assets and not legal tender in the country. Mexico’s CBDCs are designed to be interconnected with the traditional financial system, allowing banks to facilitate transactions in these tokens through already existing payment systems.
Mexico is another country on a long list of countries currently investigating or already developing CBDCs. According to the Bank for International Settlements, eight out of ten central banks are currently studying these solutions.
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