Bahamas is racing ahead with its CBDC called Sand Dollar, now been extended to the Abacos island

By Selena On Mar 2, 2020

While China is continuously promoting the development of Blockchain and the release of its own DC/EP cryptocurrency, the country that is active in the CBDC race is the tiny Caribbean island country of the Bahamas with its CBDC called Sand Dollar.

The Bahamas CBDC is dubbed the Sand Dollar

The tiny Caribbean island country of the Bahamas is racing against the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) called Sand Dollar. Pilot projects have already reached two of its largest island chains.

The Bahamian central bank is ahead of most countries when it comes to their CBDC launch. It looks like they were on the right track to bring it to all the islands in the second half of 2020.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest said:

“The Sand Dollar is now available on Abaco Island. This will give its residents easier access to financial services.”

Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance Commonwealth of The Bahamas, K Peter Turnquest

The country’s central bank introduced the first pilot project on the digital Bahamian dollar in December. This started on the geographically dispersed islands of Exumas, of which only some of the 365 islands are inhabited. The project has now been extended to its fourth most extensive island collection, Abacos.

Sand Dollar is expected to help revive the national economy

Speaking at the launch of digital dollars at Abaco, Turnquest said:

“A few months ago, the Abaco islands sustained catastrophic damage to their infrastructure, various economic sectors, and the very fabric of their lives … Hurricane Dorian was one we will never forget. Still, it is our hope that through the Sand Dollar, the Abaco islands can find some normalcy again, especially as it relates to their financial sector.”

The Bahamian government has fully supported this digital innovation. And they are even committed to ensuring the success of the Sand Dollar on every island of the Bahamas.

He said:

“This is precisely the same as its paper version, in which the Central Bank’s external reserves fully back it. For those who have suffered significant property losses and even lost their socks. everything, Sand Dollar will give them more accessible access to financial services.”

For example, they can now make payments via their mobile devices without paying for direct peer-to-peer transfers. Moreover, consumers can be assured because Sand Dollar provides multi-factor authentication where they can use face recognition, biometrics, or passwords to access the Sand Dollar application on their mobile devices.

However, Sand Dollar is not anonymous, but it is confidential. The Central Bank is working hard to ensure the safety and security of all consumers in the digital sphere.

In the pilot projects, one of the critical components that will be implemented will be the use of Sand Dollar with offline functionality. This will be extremely important in the event of natural disasters that islands often face.

Turnquest says:

“This coin will revolutionize the way business is conducted across our islands. Once again, the Bahamas Government fully supports this initiative, and we look forward to continuing in the rest of the Bahama Islands.”

While world superpowers take steps to launch their digital currencies, the Bahamas is ahead. It can teach some valuable lessons on the impact of monetary digitization, better or worse.

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