Eastern Caribbean CBDC expands to two more regions

On December 7, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) rolled out its digital payment system to the Commonwealth of Dominican Republic and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat, leaving only Anguilla among the eight countries planning to implement the system.

ECCB launched the "EC dollar" central bank digital currency (CBDC) in cooperation with DCash in March 2021, targeting Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts (St. Kitts) and Nevis, and St. Lucia. In August, it expanded to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

DCash is a payment system specially designed for digital EC currency. The wallet app allows holders to make CBDC purchases and person-to-person CBDC transfers in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).

The use of the digital payment system is part of a plan led by ECCB Governor Timothy NJ Antoine. Traditional payment systems are too slow and the digital EC dollar "should work for everyone except illegal actors," he said on Dec. 7.

"All of these goals are aimed at promoting economic growth, but ultimately to advance our agenda of socio-economic transformation for the shared prosperity of the people of our currency union."

The DCash wallet and CBDC payment system have been under development for at least 2 years before the official launch in 2021. A pilot project called DXCDCaribe was launched in March 2019. It is a preliminary model of the DCash system. XCD is the international code for the legal currency EC Dollar issued by ECCB.

According to atlanticcouncil.org, nine countries around the world are currently using CBDCs. Seven countries came from ECCU, along with the Bahamas and Nigeria. Twenty-one jurisdictions are currently in the pilot or development phase, and 40 jurisdictions, including the United States, are conducting research on the technology.

According to the website, only nine countries or jurisdictions are not exploring CBDC options in some way.

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