Greater use of digital currency expected

The use of digital currencies across the Caribbean, including the Barbados-based mMoney, is set to increase in coming months.

Investment banking firm RF Holdings Limited announced on Tuesday that it had entered into a partnership with the Barbados-based financial technology company Bitt to facilitate the acceptance of digital currency transactions across its Caribbean network.

RF Holdings Limited, which manages more than $2 billion in assets, is the Barbados-based parent company to a group
of investment banks in Barbados, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

In a statement, RF Holdings Ltd said the partnership was focused on developing a platform based on Bitt’s digital currency infrastructure that will allow for digital currencies, such as the Bahamas Sand Dollar, mMoney in Barbados, and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s DCash, to be accepted and accessed across the investment bank’s products
by a wider network of Caribbean clients.

It said the immediate target for the platform is facilitating transactions based on available digital currencies in The Bahamas and Barbados, and that the platform’s services will eventually be offered to the rest of the Caribbean.

“As more digital currencies are made available through the new digital infrastructure, the benefits of cross-border digital currency exchange for the Caribbean region expands far beyond the conveniences it will provide for RF clients,” the statement said.

Officials said the longer term goal of the platform is to facilitate general online payments, making mobile and online goods and services more accessible, and more affordable in the Caribbean region by allowing individuals and businesses to efficiently transact directly with each other.

Bitt provides its Digital Currency Management Systems (DCMS) to central banks, commercial banks and credit unions, merchants and consumers, to equip every ecosystem participant with the digital currency components necessary to participate in fully digital transactions for the post-COVID-19 economy.

Michael Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer of RF Group said: “digital currencies have been gaining popularity internationally and we’ve seen an increased interest for the same in the Caribbean”.

“At RF, we believe in embracing new technologies and trends to serve our clients in the most effective ways.

“We look forward to creating in collaboration with Bitt, a convenient solution for our clients who previously couldn’t access our investment vehicles to easily do business with us,” said Anderson.

Bitt’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Popelka said since the launch of the company’s synthetic digital currency in Barbados it has been working towards the creation of an intra-regional cross-border settlement solution to unlock trade, investment and remittance
flows within the Caribbean.

“We are thrilled to be working with RF Holdings to leverage Bitt Digital Currency Management Systems in creating a solution that will boost RF’s product offering and usher in a transformational way of conducting business within the region,” said Popelka.

Both The Bahamas and Barbados have seen an increased focus on digital currencies from the legislative level with the Central Bank of The Bahamas introducing the Sand Dollar – the official digital version of the Bahamian dollar last year.

RF intends for this platform to not only assist in providing added convenience to clients of the investment bank, but also create a more efficient business model.

The platform will be able to facilitate payments from and between institutions such as banks, individual consumers and merchants. (MM/PR)