First CBDC currency released in Bahamas

The Central Bank of the Bahamas recently announced the launch of its sandDollar digital currency. Considered to be the first in the world to have been fully developed the digital currecy sand dollar is the digital version of the Bahamian dollar. 

The digital currency was issued by the central Bank as a CBDC. According to the Central Bank the Sand Dollar will be to for payments and other financial services. The first phase will include the roll out with private sector such as banks, credit unions, for personal and enterprise wallets. The digital wallets will be secured with multi-factor authentication security and will be mobile-based, servicing the 90% of the population with smartphones.

Underserved communities of the Caribbean nation are the primary target of the initiative, which the bank said would reduce financial service delivery costs and boost transactional efficiency. The country is an archipelago with hundreds of islands, placing limits on traditional infrastructure.

The Sand Dollar is backed 1:1 to the Bahamian dollar (BSD), which, in turn, is pegged to the U.S. dollar.