Caribbean – The adoption of cryptocurrency it is a response to increasingly cut-off from mainstream banking facilities

The acceptance of cryptocurrency as payment in the Caribbean island community/nations is increasingly more of a necessity than a ploy to attract people’s attention, euronews reports.

„The adoption of cryptocurrency is far from a gimmick,” explained Storm Gonsalves, a property developer. „It’s a response to the very real challenges faced by island communities increasingly cut-off from mainstream banking facilities.”

„Residents of small island nations are finding it increasingly difficult to send and receive money internationally because of ‘derisking’ by large international banks,” St. Vincent-born Gonsalves added.

Derisking is when these large institutions remove their intermediary banking services from smaller island-based community banks.

„This prevents the island-based banks from transacting internationally. If this trend continues it means small island nations will be essentially cut off from international trade and commerce. For tourism-based economies, this will be devastating„.

It is for this reason in part that the Caribbean has been one of the biggest proponents of finding digital currencies, for instance, as a solution to the growing issue.

„This has pushed many Caribbean island nations to adopt blockchain and other cryptocurrencies a lot faster than other more developed nations. Bermuda, Bahamas, Barbados and now St. Vincent are leading the way in this regard,” added Gonsalves.

In March, the Eastern Caribbean became the first digital currency union in the world with the launch of „DCash” across four island nations, St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are decentralised and unregulated, the DCash will be backed by a central bank.

The ultimate hope is that it will allow people, particularly on remote islands, and even those without bank accounts, to be able to make secure payments.