Bahamas strikes first with Sand Dollar amid US–China CBDC faceoff
Fed Chairman Powell sees no urgency to develop a CBDC, but eventually, the world’s top central bank must act, say experts. The Bahamas, an island nation in the West Indies, made digital currency history on Oct. 20 with the official launch of a new central bank digital currency, the so-called Sand Dollar. It became the first country to roll out a CBDC available to all residents, and while the Bahamas is a small nation — with only 393,000 people — it appears to be an event of some global financial significance.Or is it? “It could be if it succeeds,” Ross Buckley, KPMG-KWM professor of....
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This makes The Bahamas one of the first countries in the world to officially launch a CBDC beyond a pilot program. The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced the country’s “Sand Dollar” — a state-backed virtual currency — is now available nationwide.According to an Oct. 20 Facebook post from Project Sand Dollar, the central bank digital currency (CBDC) became available to all 393,000 residents of The Bahamas from roughly 10:00 PM UTC. This makes The Bahamas the first country in the world to officially roll out a CBDC. China is currently testing a pilot program for its digital yuan with....
The Bahamas is beginning a push for national digital currency adoption this summer, the central bank's governor, John Rolle, said. The Central Bank of the Bahamas is preparing a national push for its digital currency this summer to get more Bahamians signing up for the Sand Dollar.In another move toward the adoption of the Bahamas’ central bank digital currency, the CBOB is now focused on connecting mobile Sand Dollar wallets with commercial banking systems, CBOB Governor John Rolle announced.According to a Wednesday report by the Nassau Guardian, Rolle said that the Bahamian government....
The Central Bank of the Bahamas partnered with Mastercard and digital payment startup Island Pay to launch a card for its central bank digital currency. The Bahamas is moving to make its national digital currency more accessible by launching a prepaid card for the “sand dollar.”The Central Bank of The Bahamas has partnered with global payment giant Mastercard and local payment startup Island Pay to create a card that supports the sand dollar central bank digital currency.According to a Wednesday announcement, the card is running under a new program from Mastercard and Island Pay, allowing....
Countries like the Bahamas and Thailand are on the leading edge of CBDC development, according to a new research report. A new ranking of global central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, places the Bahamas at the top of the leaderboard in terms of retail applications – offering an important glimpse in the race to issue government-backed cryptocurrencies.In its 2021 CBDC Index, global consulting firm PwC surveyed the level of central-bank maturity in deploying cryptocurrencies based on two factors: retail applications and interbank applications. Retail applications refer to CBDCs that can....
Following cybersecurity assessments, commercial institutions are being cleared to issue the world's first CBDC — the Bahamas' Sand Dollar. The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced that its central bank digital currency, the Sand Dollar, is expected to achieve full interoperability between its various wallet providers within the week.A recent statement released by the CBoB revealed that Authorised Financial Institutions such as payments service providers are expected to be finalized within the coming days. Essentially acting as wallet providers and prospective issuers of the Sand....