New-Country-Partners-with-Ripple-for-a-New-Pilot-Project
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Ripple and New Country collaborate on a new pilot project. It has launched a stablecoin project with Ripple

The Balkan republic of Montenegro now utilizes the euro instead of its own local currency; the prime minister of that country launched a central bank “digital currency or stablecoin” project with Ripple. The country of Montenegro in Southeast Europe has declared a cooperation with Ripple, breaking news that went unnoticed for a few days within the crypto community. On January 18, 2023, Dr. Dritan Abazovi, the nation’s prime minister, tweeted about the pilot project with Ripple. Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovi declared on Twitter that his government is working with Ripple to develop a digital currency. At Davos, Abazovi had a meeting with vice president James Wallis and CEO Brad Garlinghouse of Ripple. Vice President of central bank engagements and CBDCs at Ripple is Wallis. As he wrote in the thread: “In cooperation with @Ripple and the Central Bank, we launched a pilot project to build the first digital currency or stablecoin for Montenegro,” Abazovi appears to have had something along the lines of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in mind when he made his announcement.

However, because Montenegro does not already have a national currency of its own, it is unknown exactly what the future digital money would be. Despite not being a member of the Eurozone or the European Union (EU), Montenegro has used the euro as its currency since 2002. In 2008, Montenegro submitted its application to the EU. For months, the Montenegrin government has been vying for a spot in the Bitcoin market. It has a reputation for welcoming cryptocurrencies, and Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, attended a panel titled Future Now! in April. At that time, Buterin apparently received Montenegrin citizenship. When the experiment with Ripple was announced on January 18, local news outlets covered it extensively, but it took several days for word of the project to spread internationally.

Last year, a Ripple adviser pledged further participation in CBDC transactions, particularly noting Bhutan and Palau among “many pilots in operation.” The business is also a founder member of the Digital Dollar Project, and in February 2022, it became a member of the Digital Euro Association.