The Central Bank In Bahamas Set To Introduce A Cryptocurrency

The Bahamas recently joined a small list of countries that are planning to experiment with central bank digital currencies – also known as CBCD.

The announcement came from the country’s Deputy Prime Minister who also doubles up as a Minister of Finance, K. Peter Turnquest. During the “Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference” which was recently held in the Bahamas, he revealed a pilot digital currency that will be introduced by the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Given that The Bahamas is a country that consists of over 700 islands, islets, and cays, Turnquest also said that the digital currency would assist in ‘banking the unbanked’ which comes in the wake of many commercial banks in the archipelagic states which are downsizing and leaving the communities without any vital banking services.

According to Turnquest, with a central bank-issued cryptocurrency, there won’t be a need to travel long distances in order to access the banking services. This will obviously make life more convenient in countries where transportation is problematic and expensive.

As Turnquest said at the conference:

“Digitization of our government and financial services complements both our ease of doing business initiatives and our digital Bahamas framework,”

Aside from The Bahamas, Canada is also exploring CBDCs lately, following the publication of a staff discussion paper late last year by the bank of Canada. Other countries whose central banks are also playing with this idea include Norway and Sweden – and the Bank of England has also researched how beneficial a CBDC would be to the country.