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Jamaica Central Bank (JCB) is rapidly progressing with the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). In what was a short financial ceremony on Monday morning, the country’s first “digital version of the Jamaican Dollar” was minted.
The Bank of Jamaica reports that a total of J$230 Million in CBDC, roughly US$1.4million, will be handed out to institutions and authorized payment service providers as part of the digital currency’s experimental trials that have started. Trials should be taking until end of the year.
The ceremonial ‘first minting’ was done in the presence of Jamaica’s Finance Minister, Nigel Clarke, a group of senior BOJ executives, BOJ Governor Richard Byles as well as a management committee from Irish technology firm eCurrency Mint who assists the country in the process of development.
The JCB expects that the country’s CBDC will bring several benefits for citizens. For example, the digital currency would be a more efficient, safer and resilient means of payment according to the bank. The BOJ noted:
“For deposit-taking organizations and the federal authority itself, CBDC presents an opportunity to enhance cash management methods and expenses.”
Following the country’s milestone, Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clark highlighted the country’s immense growth over the past years on Twitter:
Amidst exponential cryptocurrency adoption worldwide, national government had to speed up the developments of their Central Bank Digital Currencies. Japan and China are good example of countries leading the race, with China committing to their deadline of implementing the digital Yuan during the Beijing Winter Olympics of 2022.