Colombia’s central bank, Banco de la República, has joined forces with blockchain firm Ripple to investigate the potential of blockchain technology. Ripple announced that Banco de la República and the Ministry for the Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) will be piloting Ripple’s CBDC platform to enhance their high-value payments system. This initiative is part of a blockchain experimentation phase conducted by MinTIC.
Ripple stated that their CBDC platform “will be experimented and tested in a controlled environment without compromising public resources.” Mauricio Lizcano, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia, commented, “Potential efficiencies can be evaluated through the results obtained in the development of a solution with blockchain technology, which manages to improve and complement the processes in the entities in a safe and efficient way.” James Wallis, Vice President of Central Bank Engagements and CBDCs at Ripple, added, “By harnessing the power of the CBDC Platform, based upon the XRPL, this project will pave the way for transformative advancements in the utilization of blockchain technology within the public sector.”
In August 2022, Colombia’s government revealed that they were considering the introduction of a central bank digital currency to facilitate transactions and reduce tax evasion, as well as planning to ban cash transactions for amounts surpassing 10 million Colombian pesos ($2,390).