Montenegro launches a pilot project to build the first Stablecoin

• Montenegro has announced a partnership with Ripple to launch a pilot project to create the country’s first digital Stablecoin.
• Montenegro is a candidate country for EU membership whose application is yet to be approved.

The Southeastern European country of Montenegro has announced a partnership with Ripple to launch a pilot project to create the country’s first digital stablecoin.

The Montenegrin Prime Minister discussed the project with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and James Wallis, Ripple Vice President for Central Bank Engagement and CBDCs at a meeting.

Furthermore, Dr. Abazovi revealed that his country will collaborate with Ripple on a stablecoin pilot project. “In collaboration with Ripple and the Central Bank, we have launched a pilot project to build the first digital currency or stablecoin for Montenegro,” he stated.

Digital currency transformation difficult

Montenegro is a candidate country for EU membership whose application has yet to be approved. Montenegro uses EUR, despite not being a member of the Eurozone. This means that the Euro is not a legal tender there, but it is treated as such by the government.

A central stablecoin is the most recent example of a blockchain payments company’s efforts to digitize payments globally, with governments typically consulting on CBDC development.

Ripple previously developed a private ledger for central banks to test CBDCs in 2021. The same year, it touted XRP, the native currency of the XRP Ledger, as the solution to the problem of cross-border CBDC interoperability, calling it an ideal neutral bridge currency.

Ivan Boskovic, the former director of the Central Bank of Montenegro’s Department of Payment Systems and Financial Technology, published an article in Currency Research last month titled “Central Bank of Montenegro: How to Drive Banking and Payments Innovations in a Small Developing Economy.”

According to Boskovic, digital transformation is a critical source of long-term growth, particularly in the financial sector. In this regard, smaller countries like Montenegro face far more difficult obstacles than world leaders, which are far more difficult to overcome than those in advanced economies.