The Central Bank of Montenegro announced the signing of an agreement with the American company Ripple and the start of work on the formation of a strategy and the launch of a pilot program for testing the state digital currency.
In a joint statement to the press, the project participants made it clear that the project is planned to be implemented in several stages, including determining the areas of practical application of the future asset both in the form of a central bank digital currency and in the form of a national stablecoin.
“More details will be shared with the public a little later, but this year,” promised RippleX Vice President for Interaction with Central Banks and CBDC James Wallis.
Wallis added that the first work on the pilot project will begin this month. A so-called sandbox will appear, where the necessary conditions will be created for the interaction of participants and testing options for the digital currency of Montenegro “in a controlled environment”.
Produktivan sastanak sa CEO kompanije @Ripple @bgarlinghouse i VP za saradnju sa centralnim bankama #JamesWallis. Razgovarali smo o razvoju platne infrastrukture koja bi obezbijedila veću finansijsku dostupnost i inkluziju. Crna Gora otvorena za novu vrijednost i ulaganja. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YdPeWHUtCm
— Dr Dritan Abazovic (@DritanAbazovic) January 18, 2023
Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazovic first announced the upcoming deal between Ripple and the Central Bank of Montenegro at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. At that time, the parties discussed the possibility of modernizing the country’s payment sector.
