John Kim and Vinay Mohan
OMFIF
Bahamas set to launch world's first CBDC
In the summer of 2019, the Central Bank of The Bahamas announced the launch of ‘Project Sand Dollar’, an attempt to build a digital version of the Bahamian dollar with retail and wholesale applications. The project was aimed at improving financial inclusion and accessibility across more than 700 islands and cays with infrastructure challenges, unstable communication and power, and a year-round risk of natural disasters.
NZIA Limited was selected as the sand dollar technology implementation partner to design and develop a digital version of the Bahamian dollar. A hybrid technology solution was combined with legal, risk and policy expertise from a partnership with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. This culminated in the launch of arguably the most comprehensive and innovative CBDC solution available today.
A proprietary software stack, Cortex, serves as the central command and control application for Project Sand Dollar. The Cortex logical architecture provides a start-to-finish capability for managing all aspects of central bank digital currency issuance, movement, usage, risk management, compliance, ecosystem engagement and end-user accessibility. Read more >>