The Bahamas, the first economy in the world to launch a central bank digital currency, is developing regulations to have commercial banks offer access to its Sand Dollar in an attempt to boost adoption, Reuters reported Monday.
John Rolle, the Bahamas' central bank governor, told Reuters that the adoption of the Sand Dollar — the islands’ CBDC launched in 2020 — remains limited so the government is preparing regulations that would effectively force commercial banks to distribute the digital currency.
Rolle said that the central bank foresees a process “where all of the commercial banks will eventually be in that space,” adding that the Bahamas authorities have started to signal the new regulatory direction to local institutions.
The Bahamas’ central bank officially launched the Sand Dollar in October 2020. As of the end of December 2023, the volume of Sand Dollars in circulation rose by 60.8% to $1.7 million from the beginning of the year, central bank data showed.
The number of personal wallets for the Sand Dollar expanded by 20% throughout the year to 118,955 by the end of last year, according to central bank data.
The central bank did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for further comment.
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