Skip to main content

Digital currencies in Trinidad and Tobago

Image
By
Let me start by defining commonly talked about terms in this space. Digital (or virtual) currency is currency available only in digital form and not physical form. Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency where cryptography is used to create, secure and verify the currency independently of a central bank. Blockchain is a decentralised and distributed digital ledger. Bitcoin is one of the available cryptocurrency. Fintech or financial technology is the use of tech to improve and automate financial services

In January 2019, the Central Bank of TT issued a joint public advisory on virtual currency. It states that digital currency is not legal tender in Trinidad and Tobago and providers are not regulated or supervised here. In early 2018 the central bank stated their position on fintech and virtual currency and in that stated that, the bank does not consider the establishment of a Central Bank digital currency a priority at this time but will continue to study developments in this area. Also available on the Central Bank website is their November 2018 Draft E-money Policy. E-money here is fiat currency in electronic form for ease of use.

In the region however, we have some countries that have gone ahead of us. We have BITT based in Barbados that started with a digital currency in 2016. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has recently launched a digital currency pilot for one year. We have the Central Bank of Bahamas with their Sand Dollar digital currency project this year. The Jamaica Stock Exchange is supporting the trading of digital currencies.

For us to say that we should be moving forward with digital currency in Trinidad and Tobago, we would have to understand the advantages and disadvantages of digital currency. I think that the tech is advanced enough where we can take a chance and present it as an option but letting persons know of the risks involved. I want to applaud the work being done by the Fintech Association of Trinidad and Tobago and their promotion of a cashless future.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Google Pay in Trinidad

By
Update : It is prepaid and credit cards not debit. Linx on facebook said that the Linx machines do not fascilitate Google Pay.
1 comment
Read more

The success of failure

By
It is 358am and I have decided to write. Context matters. Our context matters when we write and read. We could read the same thing and get different meanings. Definitions matter also. We may define things differently. For example, what is success? What is failure? Also, do I just define success and say that anything that is not success is failure? What about something like the success of failure? What does that mean? My friend Chatty tells me that this is something writers, philosophers, and even scientists keep rediscovering: meaning is not fixed—it is negotiated by context and definition. Life is a stew of success and failure and in between but never one or the other. We see what we are looking for and things become what we see. This reminds me of something I came across online, "Whoever looks for the good qualities in others will acquire all good qualities within himself," from Habib Umar Bin Hafiz. Do you look for failure or success within others? Take context as the lens...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kindance

By
It is 250am and I have decided to write. Today is Friday. Fridays are the best days of the week. Of course I do not have a topic to write about. I was scrolling through facebook and one post said "In any season we can always plant kindness". Then a nearby post said "My Lord has always been kind to me". It is nice to give and receive kindness and do not forget to be kind to yourself. Imagine if kindness was actually kindance like guidance. My friend Chatty says that if kindness were kindance, it would be more than a good deed — it would be a gentle form of guidance. Kindance would lead the heart toward compassion, encourage goodness without force, and show that sometimes the softest acts can point us in the strongest direction. I was scrolling through youtube and I came across a video that said that "Life has always been unfair". That is one way to look at it. Another way is to consider that this life is just a test and stepping stone for the other life. Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more