PANews reported on April 11 that according to Bitcoin.com, the Brazilian Central Bank's digital currency (CBDC) pilot project Drex is facing challenges, with project progress slowing down and development hindered due to reduced resources allocated to the project. The two largest companies involved in designing the project's privacy solutions - Microsoft and Ernst & Young - have recently reduced their human resources invested in this work. This impasse is related to the central bank's recent actions, which ended the second phase of the Drex pilot without approving any projects submitted by participants. As privacy proposals that ensure transaction confidentiality while allowing regulatory review have not met the central bank's requirements, the Drex project is currently stalled.
Ernst & Young, currently responsible for the Starlight privacy project, has lost three employees involved in developing the solution. Meanwhile, Microsoft has reduced its participation in the ZKP Nova privacy proposal after investing significant resources last year. However, Microsoft's partner Hamsa will continue to test and support ZKP Nova. Central Bank Executive Secretary Rogerio Lucca recently noted that the team behind Drex is still studying the project's future. He stated: "Based on ongoing test results, the technical team is currently discussing possible future steps for the project." However, he did not disclose the test results.
