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Digital is financial future in Bahamas
With the rise of smartphone adoption across the Caribbean, many industries have sought innovative ways to engage consumers by digitising their services. The banking industry is no different, as companies seek to establish future financial trends. As proven by the launch of the Sand Dollar, the world’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the Bahamas’ financial services sector is now looking to transform its legacy infrastructure by going digital to improve its security, lower costs and grow the customer base. Initially rolled out in Exuma and Abaco, as of March 2021, nine digital wallet providers circulated $130,000 worth of digital Bahamian dollars throughout the entire archipelago.
Marrying blockchain with carbon trading
The Government’s newly-released digital assets policy proposes employing blockchain technology to help record the trading of Bahamian carbon assets and the activities of a wider “Caribbean market”.
PM pledges full support for ‘leapfrog’ on Fintech
The Prime Minister yesterday pledged the Government’s full backing for efforts to help The Bahamas “leapfrog” into the digital assets space.
‘Reclaiming lost ground’: Gov’ts digital asset plan
The Bahamas has “an incredible opportunity to reclaim lost ground and be part of finance’s new frontier”, digital asset specialists argued yesterday, as they hailed the Government’s release of its “vision” for the $3trn industry.
AG: ‘We cannot be left out on digital assets ‘revolution’
The Bahamas cannot afford to be “on the outside of this digital assets revolution looking in”, the attorney general asserted yesterday, adding that the Government’s just-released policy paper positions the country to be “a leader”.
Bahamas will ‘fight’ EU, OECD on digital assets
The Bahamas will likely have “to fight” the European Union (EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) to preserve its digital assets leadership, the Opposition’s leader warned yesterday.
COVID’s ‘captive audience’ aids digital payment growth
A digital payments provider says COVID-19 accelerated the industry’s growth because it created a “captive audience” for its services.
‘Creatures of evolution’: Digital firm to top $130m
A Bahamian digital payments provider yesterday predicted it will this year “top” the $130m worth of transactions it settled in 2021, and said of this shift: “This is not going to be the norm; it is the norm.”
FTX attorney: Be ‘thrilled’ at digital asset feedback
A former Cabinet minister yesterday said the private sector “should be thrilled that the Government has institutionalised” how it will be consulted on the future evolution of the digital assets industry.
‘Foolhardy’ if BISX to neglect digital assets
The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) is “actively pursuing opportunities” in digital assets, its chief executive disclosed yesterday, adding: “We’d be foolhardy to do otherwise.”
Half of businesses yet to launch online
More than half the Bahamian businesses surveyed by the Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) have yet to launch an e-commerce platform, it was revealed yesterday.
Bahamas must ‘levitate’ above digital evolution
The Bahamas “needs levitation devices” to rise above the rapidly-evolving digital assets space so that regulation lands wherever the “ground shifts”, a prominent banker is arguing.
Come to Bahamas, PM tells digital asset firms
The Prime Minister yesterday urged digital asset firms to consider establishing a physical presence in The Bahamas while hailing the “transformative” impact the sector will have for all industries and the wider economy.
Crypto Thieves
ActivTrades
FTX and SALT will jointly present a new event, Crypto Bahamas, that will debut this week from April 26-29 at the Baha Mar resort in Nassau. The invitation-only event will feature collaboration and networking among leading investors and builders in the digital assets industry.
IDB’s 37% digital woe ‘totally different’ now
A digital payments provider yesterday said a survey that found 37 percent of Bahamian firms have challenges accessing electronic payments would have “a totally different result” if done today.
‘No Bahamas slowdown’ from crypto winter freeze
The Bahamas’ top digital assets regulator says there has been no slowdown in applications to do business from this jurisdiction despite the collapse in global cryptocurrency valuations, and is predicting that interest will only increase.
Shed tax haven label for digital assets win
The Bahamas will lose its position as a digital assets leader and the potential economic “upswing” if it fails to shed its ‘tax haven’ label, a Bahamian financial services provider warned yesterday.
Payment provider targets 25-30% digital user growth
A Bahamian payments provider yesterday disclosed it is targeting “manageable” annual growth of 25-30 percent in digital wallet users while pledging to do its part in reducing the “fear” surrounding electronic transactions.
Bahamas at ‘critical point’ in gaining COVID balance
The Bahamas has reached “a critical juncture” in its battle against COVID-19 where it must balance saving lives and preserving livelihoods, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is warning.
DEREK SMITH: Compliance pitfalls to avoid
REMOTE-first digital communication is expected to continue growing at an astounding rate year. In addition, due to the pandemic, society is increasingly reliant on connected infrastructure and digital services for the day-to-day functioning of its daily operations, which means that using digital services to interact has now become the norm.
