The World's First Blockchain Based Digital Currency
August 15th, 2019.
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According to a news release from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in March this year, the world will soon get its first blockchain based digital currency.
A contract was signed on February 21st at the ECCB's Headquarters in Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis between the ECCB and Barbados based fintech company Bitt Inc (Bitt).
Bitt will conduct a blockchain-issued Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot within the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) which will be the first of its kind and will involve a securely minted and issued digital version of the EC dollar (DXCD).
The release further stated that the digital EC dollar will be distributed and used by Licensed Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions in the ECCU.
Also, that the DXCD will be used for financial transactions between consumers and merchants, including peer-to-peer transactions, all using smart devices.
For example, an individual in St Kitts will be able to send DXCD securely from their smartphone to someone in Grenada in seconds at no cost to either party.
According to Timothy Antoine, the Governor of the ECCB, “This is not an academic exercise. Not only will the digital EC Dollar be the world’s first digital legal tender currency to be issued by a central bank on blockchain but this pilot is also a live CBDC deployment with a view to an eventual phased public rollout.
The pilot is part of the ECCB’s Strategic Plan 2017-2021 which aims to help reduce cash usage within the ECCU by 50 per cent, promote greater financial sector stability, and expedite the growth and development of our member countries. It would be a game-changer for the way we do business”.
Other digital currency news:
• Bahamas Central Bank To Deliver First Digital Currency By 2020
