Commercial banks will not have to be compelled to distribute The Bahamas’ central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Sand Dollar, because it is legal tender of The Bahamas, Chairman of the Clearing Banks Association Gowon Bowe told Guardian Business . Bowe explained that commercial banks are obligated to distribute and accept the legal tender of The Bahamas under their licensing agreement. He explained that what The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) and commercial banks are doing at the moment is working on integrating their information technology systems so that the process of moving Sand Dollars across platforms works seamlessly.
Bowe, who is also the chief executive officer of Fidelity Bank, explained that once the integration with the CBOB is complete, all commercial banks will likely be holders of Sand Dollars. Central Bank Governor John Rolle recently told news wire service Reuters while in London that rules compelling commercial banks to use and distribute the country’s CBDC will be in place within two years. This move, he said, is in an effort to stimulate wider use of the digital currency.
Rolle said uptake of the Sand Dollar continues to be slow, and bringing commercial banks into the distribution network could spur wider use. “We’ve begun to signal that to our institutions,” Rolle told Reuters. “We foresee a process where all of the commercial banks will eventually be in that space, and they will be required to provide their clients with access to the c.
