The response to Ripple’s recently announced CBDC Innovate 2023 challenge has been overwhelming. Despite being just halfway through the ideation stage at Phase I, the challenge has already garnered over 700 registrations. There has been immense interest and enthusiasm from developers and enterprises around the world in this year’s challenge.

If you haven’t heard about the CBDC Innovate competition, there is still time for more participants to join Phase 1 of the challenge and enter their ideas for a CBDC application. Phase 1 of CBDC Innovate ends on August 18, 2023 at 2:00 pm PST. 5:00 pm EST, 10:00 pm UK time and 5:00 am in Asia (Singapore).

Both enterprise and individual developers and coders alike are invited to enter the two-part challenge to develop CBDC applications in any area of interest that they choose. This year’s categories are not limited to specific use cases (for example: retail, wholesale, interoperability), opening up the realm of possibilities for all things CBDCs. In Phase 1, entrants will develop their applications using XRP Ledger (XRPL) technologies.

Meet the Judges

As the challenge gains momentum, we are thrilled to introduce the experts judging the CBDC Innovate competition. To support developers in their quest to create CBDC applications, Ripple is honored to welcome a panel of industry experts as judges of the challenge.

They are:

• Jonathan Donovan, Vice President of Product Development - Blockchain and Digital Assets, Mastercard
• Daniel Eidan, Adviser and Solution Architect, BIS Innovation Hub (BIS IH)
• Aleksi Grym, Head of Fintech and Principal Adviser, Bank of Finland
• Bryena Jyoti, Director, Blockchain Technology Solutions, Digital Assets Innovation, PwC
• Conrad Kraft, Executive Director, Digital Euro Association
• Jennifer Lassiter, Executive Director, The Digital Dollar Project
• Brett Molin, Technical Partner Director, Central Banks Ripple
• Anastasia “Tracy” Raissis, Founder and CEO, Achillia Group, LLC.
• Rajesh Sadhwani, Managing Director - Banking & Capital Markets, DXC Technology
• Nav Singh, Head of EMEA Marketing and Communications - Banking and Capital Markets, DXC Technology
• Xiaochen Zhang, President, FinTech4Good
• Chris Ostrowski, CEO and co-founder, SODA

“Ripple’s CBDC Innovate helps people like us find a community where we can drive change and present innovative solutions to accelerate financial inclusion and mass adoption,” said Chris Winkler, one of CBDC Innovate’s 2022 winners.

“We know the scope of Ripple and the future of CBDCs, and we want to be part of that future,” added Nestor Campos Rojas, another CBDC Innovate 2022 winner, highlighting the awesome opportunity that CBDC Innovate creates for those seeking to drive innovative change when it comes to CBDCs.

Finalists and Winners: Upcoming Announcements

Finalists from Phase I will move onto Phase II of CBDC Innovate where they will compete for three grand prizes in a pool of $140,000 USD. Entrants should also check the resources page on DevPost for “Office Hours” with Ripple staff to help formulate and check their ideas for Phase I. The times and instructions on how to join “Office Hours” will be posted soon.

Up to 16 finalists will be selected to receive mentorship from industry experts. Finalists’ solutions will be highlighted to a global audience in November at Ripple Swell Global.

Watch this space for further updates as the competition evolves!

Want to learn more about building on the XRP Ledger? Join the Developer Discord to connect with the community, or check out the Learning Portal to jumpstart your journey.