Mercado Bitcoin joins Brazilian CBDC pilot with Mastercard.

Brazil's central bank has authorized the largest local crypto exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, to participate in the pilot of the digital real, the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC). The consortium led by Mercado Bitcoin counts Mastercard, broker Genial, registrar Cerc, and financial software fintech Sinqia as partners. The CBDC is slated to be rolled out by 2024 by the central bank, which sees a digital currency as a way of increasing participation in the financial system.