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BRB | Jun 19, 2022

Digital currency CaribCoin coming for Barbados

/ Our Today

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Barbados will be one of the first two Caribbean countries in which a common Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is to be rolled out.

The CaribCoin project, as it is being referred to, is a joint venture between  Dr Jan Schröder, the chief system architect, and the Caribbean-based technology accelerator, Abed Ventures.

Marla Dukharan, regional financial and economic expert.

Caribcoin would first be rolled out in Barbados and Jamaica and then other Caribbean countries. However, renowned regional financial and economic expert, Marla Dukharan suggested that each country in the region could do well with their own digital currency, while adding that there was especially a need for a cross-border settlement system.

Pointing to some of the benefits of a digital currency, Schröder said it allowed for faster transactions and was more accessible, safe, sustainable and stable. It also presents an opportunity to create a Pan-Caribbean digital money that can be used across the region.

Dr Jan Schröder, chief system architect.

A common CBDC would also deliver seamless, faster and cheap payments, provide liquidity and enable a fast-track towards a CARICOM Single Market & Economy (CSME) without a need to replace national currencies but simultaneously enhance financial inclusion in the region.

Richard Byles, governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), addresses a semi-virtual ‘Riverside Chat’ panel discussion at the 2022 Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference, on Wednesday (June 15), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston. (Photo: JIS)

Our Today reported on Saturday (June 18) that the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has set the end of this month to start the national rollout of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), dubbed JAM-DEX.

BOJ Governor Richard Byles, who made the announcement, declared that the Central Bank is at a point where, “we are… ready [to proceed]”.

Speaking during a ‘Riverside Chat’ panel discussion on digital and cryptocurrency at the just concluded 2022 Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference, Byles reiterated that the BOJ has spent the last two years undertaking preparations for the CBDC’s development and implementation.

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