SAO PAULO - Brazil's Nubank on Wednesday announced plans to release its own cryptocurrency as part of a new customer rewards program.

Warren Buffett-backed Nubank said in a statement the Nucoin digital currency is expected to be launched in the first half of 2023.

Its goal is to offer customers benefits such as discounts and perks as they accumulate Nucoins.

Nubank's announcement follows a similar move by South American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre Inc, which had announced in August the creation of its loyalty program-related cryptocurrency MercadoCoin.

MercadoCoin is tradeable on exchanges and its value can fluctuate. It was not immediately clear whether Nucoins would be similarly fungible.

"This project is another step ahead in our belief in the transformative potential of blockchain technology and to democratize it even more," said Fernando Czapski, general manager for Nucoin at Nubank, which currently has over 70 million clients.

Polygon Technology, an Ethereum scaling blockchain developer, will provide technology and technical support for Nucoin's expansion, the firm said, adding that around 2,000 customers will be selected within the next month to test Nucoin.

Nubank announced in May it would allow its Brazilian customers to make cryptocurrency transactions on its banking app.

  - Reuters