Montenegro's central bank teams up with Ripple on digital currency pilot project

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović has announced connected Twitter that his state is pursuing a integer currency successful conjunction with Ripple. Abazović met with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and vice president James Wallis astatine Davos.

Wallis is Ripple's vice president for cardinal slope engagements and CBDCs. Abazović seemingly had thing similar a cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC) successful caput successful his announcement, arsenic helium stated successful the thread:

“In practice with @Ripple and the Central Bank, we launched a aviator task to physique the archetypal integer currency oregon stablecoin for Montenegro.”

The nonstop quality of the imaginable aboriginal integer currency is unclear, however, arsenic Montenegro presently has nary nationalist currency of its own. The Balkan federation has utilized the euro arsenic its currency since 2002, erstwhile the transnational currency was introduced, contempt the information that Montenegro is neither portion of the Eurozone nor a European Union (EU) member. Montenegro applied for EU rank successful 2008.

As per the PM of Montenegro, the federation launched a aviator task to physique the archetypal integer currency oregon stablecoin for Montenegro, successful practice with@Ripple and the Central Bank. https://t.co/osWT3wocPk

— Leonidas (@LeoHadjiloizou) January 29, 2023

The Montenegrin authorities has been angling for a spot successful the cryptocurrency manufacture for months. It has developed a reputation for its acceptance of crypto, and it held a sheet titled Future Now! successful April that Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin attended. Buterin was reportedly granted Montenegrin citizenship astatine that time.

Related: ECB authoritative urges CBDC improvement for the bully of cryptocurrency and consumers

The task with Ripple was wide covered by section quality outlets erstwhile the announcement was made connected Jan. 18, but it took respective days for quality of the task to scope the planetary community.

A Ripple advisor promised caller enactment successful CBDC deals connected the portion of the institution past year, mentioning Bhutan and Palau specifically among “several pilots successful progress.” The institution is besides a founding member of the Digital Dollar Project and it joined the Digital Euro Association successful February 2022.