Bahamas Central Bank Aims To Make The Sand Dollar Global

The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) has made it clear that it plans to make the Sand Dollar, its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, completely interoperable within an international scope.

Plans For Global Expansion

Bobby Chen stands as the Assistant Manager of Electronic Solutions at the CBOB. In a statement, he claimed that the Sand Dollar is planned to be interoperable with other global currencies, eventually. This came by way of a report made by the Nassau Guardian on the 15th of October, 2020.

As it stands now, Chen explained that the Sand Dollar is only being used domestically within the Bahamas. However, he stated that the plan was to develop a solution to allow for interoperability for other major global currencies, as well.

COVID-Induced Accelerated Timetables

Cleopatra Davis stands as the CBOB’s Head of Banking, and gave comment about this matter, as well. She explained that the interoperability of the Sand Dollar with other wallets stands as a key strategy. This comes alongside the integration of Automated Clearing House and real-time gross settlement, as well, David stated.

She went further, explaining that this will allow for the Sand Dollar to move to and from various user bank accounts, which would help facilitate fiat conversions further, in turn.

Davis made further note that one of the major components of the national rollout is the API card-less onboarding, which is set to come out on the 20th of October. Davis further stressed the importance of this process in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as this would allow users to access the Sand Dollar without the need for any physical interactions, in turn.

The CBDC Arms Race

One of the latest bits of news regarding the Sand Dollar, comes by way of the CBOB previously reporting its plans to launch this currency across the entire archipelago nation by October of this year. The Sand Dollar initiative was launched back in 2019, with the Bahamian Government having a small trial back in December of that year of the CBDC, first only starting on Abaco and Exuma, two small islands of the nation.

The world at large is starting to realize the potential of blockchain technology, with CBDC projects sprouting all over the place in Europe and China being the global superpower with the most progress in its project. As it stands now, it’s a stage of a technological arms race, one China is seemingly winning, at least for now.