Timor-Leste CBDC Tracker

Timor-Leste is currently in the research phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) development. The Banco Central de Timor-Leste was working on a CBDC study in 2024 and later partnered with a company to develop a CBDC in 2025. The central bank plans to launch a CBDC by 2028.

CBDC History and Development

In June 2024, the Banco Central de Timor-Leste announced it would finalize a CBDC study. However, the central bank wrote that it already “concludes that it would be beneficial to create and adopt CBDC in Timor-Leste.”

In February 2025, the Banco Central de Timor-Leste mentioned CBDC development in its Strategic Plan for Financial Sector Development. According to the report, the central bank planned to complete a CBDC study within a year, launch CBDC pilots in five areas in 2026, and achieve full-scale implementation by 2028.

The Banco Central de Timor-Leste partnered with the company Montran in July 2025 to develop a CBDC (called eCentavos).

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

Timor-Leste earned a 72 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2025 Freedom in the World report. However, most of the issues do not directly relate to the issuance or use of a CBDC. Even then, though, it’s important to recognize that the creation of a CBDC could open the door to risks to financial privacy and freedom.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, the Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, the Human Rights Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, the Tyranny Tracker, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.