The Central Bank of the Bahamas will oblige local banks to accept Sand Dollar

The new regulation will take effect from 2026. The central bank is particularly hoping to utilize the government-issued stablecoin in mobile payments.

"Sand Dollar" was launched in 2020 to facilitate access to banking services. According to Reuters, the Sand Dollar now accounts for less than 1% of the currency in circulation in the Bahamas. Digital wallet deposits fell 75% to $12 million in August 2023, while the figure peaked at $49.8 million in August 2022.

Unlike the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which offered rewards to users during the digital rupee trial, the Bahamas has no plans to offer financial incentives for using the Sand Dollar. Digital rupee retail transactions in India reached one million in December, but the number of daily CBDC transactions has fallen to 100,000 since the financial incentives were removed.

In 2021, Mastercard (NYSE:MA) partnered with Island Pay to launch a Sand Dollar-enabled debit card, allowing Bahamians to pay for goods and services with CBDC.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)