On Monday August 9, BOJ minted Jamaica’s first batch of central bank digital currency (CBDC), a total of J$230 million, soon to be issued to deposit-taking institutions and authorized payment service providers for the CBDC pilot which ends in December.
Ladies first…at the small ceremony, a commemorative certificate was signed to represent the historic minting. Here, Deputy Governor in charge of banking and currency as well as financial markets infrastructure, Natalie Haynes, signs as Governor Richard Byles looks on.
Governor Byles adds his signature…after recognizing the work of BOJ’s CBDC project team and thanking the Government for its support, Governor Byles noted noting that the next step is to ensure widespread access and acceptance by taking CBDC to the people.
And the final signature is from the Key Ceremony Master, Ruel Hinds. The current timeline for obtaining new batches of physical currency is usually nine months. This batch of CBDC was created in less than 30 minutes.
All done!
For the record…CBDC is a digital form of central bank-issued currency and therefore is legal tender and can be exchanged dollar for dollar with physical cash. Individuals and businesses will be able to use CBDC to make payments and store value, as now obtains with cash.
