Mexico’s central bank announces that the country will have its own digital currency by 2024. This puts the Latin American country alongside China and Indonesia, which are also planning to introduce their own CDBC soon.
The Mexican government said that the Central Bank of Mexico has pointed out the importance of this step, saying it could significantly improve access to financial services in the country.
“We are working on the project. And we still have a timeline that we think will happen by the end of 2024 at the latest. We will keep this CBDC project going well,” said Banco de México Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath.
CBDC is quite different from decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Central bank digital currency is a digital version of fiat currency. It is fully centralized and controlled by individuals such as central banks. Bitcoin and many cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are decentralized. This is because there is no central authority behind it.
Mexico has shown its dismissive attitude towards Bitcoin in recent months with Elektra, the country’s largest supermarket chain, now allowing its customers to pay bills in BTC instead of the traditional currency.
The introduction of central bank digital currencies is the goal of many countries around the world. In particular, the world’s second largest economy, China, is the most hostile to cryptocurrencies. It has tried to promote the digital yuan in the past. Moreover, the authorities have announced that they will also allow athletes and foreign visitors to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to use digital financial products.