Mexican CBDC Unlikely to Be Ready by 2024

The Mexican central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital peso, is unlikely to be ready by 2024, as was announced back in 2021 by the Mexican government. In a statement, representatives from Banxico, the central bank of Mexico, stated the development of the currency was still in its initial stages, and there is still no date set for its launch.

On Dec. 29, 2021, the Mexican government announced the development of its own digital peso via social media, which would be launched circa 2024. However, this timeline is becoming more and more unlikely to be fulfilled, according to new information coming from Banxico, the central bank of the country.

According to local sources, the Mexican central bank digital currency (CBDC) is still in its initial stages of development, with the general directorate of payment systems and market infrastructures, the division of the bank tasked with its construction, still determining the requirements for its issuance.

On the possible date of issuance of the digital peso, Banxico stated:

The result of this initial phase entails the preparation of a budget that is currently being determined, and will in turn allow establishing a probable date on which said CBDC will be available.

Furthermore, it was disclosed more than $500,000 was used for the development of this currency during 2022, allocated from funds provided by Banxico.

Other estimations for the launch date of the Mexican CBDC have been made by different officers of the government. In April, the governor of Banxico, Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, stated that the whole development cycle would take the institution around three years. However, this contradicts the statements made by the institution claiming that there is still no launch date for the digital peso.

At the time, Rodriguez Ceja also established a clear distinction between the future CBDC and other cryptocurrencies, stating that they were unsupported assets, and were not legal tender in the country. The Mexican CBDC is designed to be interconnected with the traditional financial system, allowing banks to facilitate the transaction of these tokens through the already-existent payment system.

Mexico is another country on the long list of nations that are currently investigating or already developing their CBDCs. According to the Bank of International Settlements, eight of every ten central banks are currently studying these solutions.

What do you think about the different estimates for the launch of the Mexican CBDC? Tell us in the comments section below.