Emtech, a provider of central banking infrastructure, has launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Innovation kit.
According to the firm, the kit aims to support Fintech platforms and various other financial service providers that are looking to experiment with solutions based on virtual currencies that are supported by reserve banks.
The New York-headquartered firm has also announced a $4 million investment that was led by Matrix Partners India. The firm intends to continue working on its CBDC technology stack and its Regtech products.
BTN, Equity Alliance, LoftyInc Capital and Vested have also made contributions to the firm’s investment round. They are reportedly joining Emtech’s existing investors such as Noemis Ventures, Octerra Capital and 500 Global.
This latest investment round brings the company’s total investments to $10 million.
The CBDC Innovation Kit was introduced last month.
Emtech founder Carmelle Cadet stated that the firm will launch its initial version of a CBDC platform in late 2023.
The firm noted:
“As the world rapidly evolves in the digital age, the concept of currency is undergoing a significant digital transformation. Imagine if the central banks that print paper cash today decide to use Blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technology to introduce even 10% of the over $10T of paper cash in circulation today. Imagine if that could be done in a way that allows the digital cash to be as trusted as paper cash, to move peer to peer like bitcoin, to be used in real time via various channels like QR codes, USSD, cold wallets, hosted wallets and doesn’t require a bank account to hold or use.”
Emtech added:
“This could address key liquidity issues that other digital assets can’t address effectively and fill in gaps in the current structures.Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is emerging as a major innovation with the promise to revolutionize the global financial landscape. As of 2022, 93% of central banks are now developing a digital currency strategy. Despite the growing misconceptions or fears about CBDC, the modernization of the financial infrastructure is arguably just another cycle of the evolution of sovereign currencies, but the concerns/pain points of users will have to be addressed in order for CBDC to gain adoption.”
The company also mentioned:
“Money has evolved over time from coins to cards schemes using a complex web of stakeholders and mobile money schemes using telecommunication infrastructure. We’ve witnessed several of those stages. The introduction of blockchain technology and the ability to represent physical assets virtually as digital tokens offers new and modern capabilities for ownership and movement of money.”