Ripple to Participate in the Digital Dollar Project’s CBDC Sandbox Program

The non-profit organization promoting the creation of the digital dollar, the Digital Dollar Project, has announced the launch of a sandbox program to kickstart the probe of the technical implementations of the envisaged digital currency. The fintech firm Ripple is among the four participants that are expected to help the Digital Dollar Project “explore technical and business implementation questions.”

Inaugural Cohort to Focus on Cross-Border Payments

The Digital Dollar Project (DDP), a nonprofit organization spearheading discussions around the mooted digital version of the U.S. dollar, recently announced the launch of the “technical Sandbox Program to jumpstart further exploration of technical implementations” of the central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a statement, the DDP revealed that the sandbox program is set to start in October “with the inaugural cohort focused on cross-border payments.”

According to a statement, four organizations namely Ripple, Digital Asset, EMTECH, and Knox Networks will be helping the DDP. The statement added that participants will get an opportunity to scrutinize real-world technology and investigate the likely implications to business strategies as well as operations. Participants will also conduct test runs to determine possible use cases.

Explaining her organization’s reasons for launching the sandbox program, Jennifer Lassiter, an executive director with DDP said:

The launch of our Technical Sandbox Program marks the next step in our effort to convene the private and public sector[s] in [the] exploration of a central bank digital currency in the U.S. We understand how important it is to include a diverse set of views and expertise as we look to answer key questions about how the technology could work, the problems we hope to solve, and the ultimate business and individual outcomes we want to achieve.

Lassiter suggested that his organization’s partnership with the private sector not only highlights the importance of collaboration but also helps to lay the foundation “for robust pilots that improve the outcomes and usability of CBDCs.”

Identifying and Testing Specific CBDC Use Cases Hypotheses

As per the statement, each cohort will be comprised of two phases, the education phase, and a pilot phase. The initial stage will be focused on helping DDP partners and participants develop a business and functional understanding of the technology. During this phase, an evaluation of the differences in possible design choices will be carried out.

During the pilot phase, the non-profit organization said it will conduct tests to “identify and test specific CBDC use-case hypotheses.” These results will be used to inform both the public and private sector “on how advancing technical solutions can unlock business value in a transformative way.”

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwe award-winning journalist, author and writer. He has written extensively about the economic troubles of some African countries as well as how digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.

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