The Tribune

The Central Bank of The Bahamas will next Monday host its second Blockchain seminar as part of its continuing drive to modernise The Bahamas’ payments system.

The event, Blockchain and The Bahamas: Raising the Bar, will give an update on The Bahamas’ digital currency project, entitled Project Sand Dollar. The conference will also highlight broader domestic reforms that the Central Bank is targeting for the payments system, and highlight its efforts to promote greater financial inclusion while reducing the economy’s reliance on cash transactions.

Senator J Kwasi Thompson, minister of state in the Office of the Prime Minister, will speak on The Bahamas’ e-government initiative. This is expected to provide a public sector infrastructure that also supports the mobile, digital financial services space.

The seminar will provide an update on international regulatory developments affecting blockchain applications of financial technology, or Fintech solutions. Joel Telpner, a leading international expert, will participate in a chat on this topic.

A panel of firms from the public and private sector has also been assembled to focus on ways in which Fintech innovations could apply to the delivery of Bahamian financial services, the importance of telecommunications infrastructure, cyber security matters and public education.

Invited panellists include the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), Cable Bahamas and the University of The Bahamas alongside financial services entities, Cash N’ Go and Fidelity Bank.

Seminar attendees will include a cross-section of invited stakeholders from the public and private sectors, along with key participants in the Bahamian payments system.