When it comes to the adoption of central bank digital currency (CBDC), Bahamas has followed the footsteps of major countries. Countries such as China, Russia, Australia, India, and South Korea are also aiming to launch their own digital currencies (CDBCs).
Bahamas is also making all the efforts to adopt and commercialize CBDC as soon as possible. According to reports, Bahamas has made an announcement where it has provided update for its digital currency. It has been confirmed by Bahamas officials that the interoperability between all its wallets has been fully achieved.
The country has confirmed that it managed to complete the interoperability in a week’s time and is now ready to take the next step for the Sand Dollar.
Following the announcement of the commercialization of the digital currency, CBoB has also made other revelations. It has revealed that it is currently in the process of looking for Authorized Financial Institutions that will be the payments service providers. The CBoB has confirmed that it will be able to ready the list and share it with public in the coming days.
It has been confirmed that the wallet providers as well as the possible issuers of the Sand Dollar have been chosen after going through rigorous testing and assessments.
Almost all the providers and issuers had to go through a number of assessments dealing with cyber-security. The firms had to prove they had the proper equipment, infrastructure, and security system to withstand any threats from third parties.
The central bank of Bahamas has confirmed that the banks and other institutions that have already adopted the application that it has launched are allowed to participate in the program.
The CBoB has also announced that the service providers who are aiming to use their own proprietary applications are still being considered. The central bank has revealed that it is aiming to process all the requests for consideration at the earliest and will soon be making another announcement.
The Central Bank of Bahamas (CBoB) has also confirmed the deadline for the approvals is by March 31, 2021.
As of now, Bahamas holds the title for being the first country to take the digital currency (the Sand Dollar) beyond the pilot/testing phase towards commercialization. It was back in October of 2020, when Bahamas had announced that it had successfully completed the pilot phase.
The announcement from Bahamas came while other countries such as China, Russia, and many more were getting ready to develop or test their central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
At present, a selected number Bahamians are able to use the Sand Dollar commercially. The Central Bank of Bahamas (CBoB) is aiming to fully rollout the Sand Dollar in the country at the earliest.
