The world's first 'digital currency issued by the national central bank' is born

In the

Project Sand Dollar-Central Bank of the Bahamas
https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/press-releases/project-sand-dollar-the-central-bank-identifies-preferred-technology-solutions-provider-for-bahamas-digital-currency

World's First Central Bank Digital Currency Launches In Bahamas: What's'Sand Dollar'?
https://www.ibtimes.com/worlds-first-central-bank-digital-currency-launches-bahamas-whats-sand-dollar-3065850

According to the Bahamas Central Bank, the Sand Dollar platform was designed by NZIA, a software development company that specializes in blockchain technology. Sand Dollar is secure with multi-factor authentication and you can access your account from your mobile phone.

All stores that support the electronic money payment system approved by the Bahamas Central Bank can pay using Sand Dollar, and the transaction fee is very small. It is said that 90% of the 393,000 people in the Bahamas own their own mobile phones.

The Bahamas government announced this CBDC issuance project in March 2019. Within the same year, a pilot program was underway to pilot Sand Dollars on Exuma Island, a population of 25,000, and Abaco Island, a population of 48,000, of the Bahamas. .. At this time, the Sand Dollar rate was fixed at 1: 1 with the Bahamian dollar , which trades 1: 1 with the US dollar (1 dollar is about 105 yen).

Banking infrastructure issues have prompted the introduction of Sand Dollar in the Bahamas. The Bahamas are made up of more than 700 islands, but only 30 are inhabited, and some of these 30 have no access to banks. Issuing and managing digital currencies by central banks will reduce opportunities for cash transactions and improve the level of financial inclusion in the Bahamas as a whole.

'We had to devise efforts and solutions to what we really needed as a sovereign state,' said Chaozhen Cehn, assistant manager of the e-solutions division of the Central Bank of Bahamas. It helps provide access to digital payments and banking infrastructure to residents who do not have access to banks. '

The Bahamas is not the only one considering the introduction of the CBDC. In particular, China is proceeding with a project to issue a 'digital yuan' for the purpose of regulating the virtual currency market such as Bitcoin, and overseas media have announced that it may be tested in time for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Bloomberg reports.

China Is Making Cryptocurrency to Challenge Bitcoin and Dollar --Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-01/china-is-making-cryptocurrency-to-challenge-bitcoin-and-dollar

Meanwhile, the United States is cautious about the 'digital dollar,' and Federal Reserve Bank president Jerome Powell said in a panel discussion at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting, 'The United States is ahead of the CBDC in any country. Issuing without mistakes is more important than issuing the US dollar. The US dollar is the reserve currency of the world, and anything related to the US dollar has a great impact on the entire world, including the launch of the CBDC. I will give it to you. '

Sand Dollar is the English name for Astriclypeus manihot , a type of sea urchin, and Astriclypeus manihot is also used in the Bahamas Central Bank logo.