Barbados-based fintech firm Bitt Inc. has launched the Barbadian Digital Dollar, the Caribbean’s first blockchain-based digital money this week as a means to bring solutions to the unbanked in the region.

In a marked effort to provide financial and banking solutions to its home country, Barbadian fintech company Bitt launched the Barbadian Digital Dollar earlier this week.

In a press release, the founders of Bitt Inc point to the historical challenges faced by countries in the region, even those beyond Barbados in establishing a reliable banking infrastructure and platform. The digital currency based on the blockchain is said to provide major respite in the means to finding simplistic solutions for large institutions as well as local people in the Caribbean, through basic everyday technology.

In statements, co-founder and CFO Oliver Gale said:

The Barbadian Digital Dollar is easy to send to anyone, with a few gestures on your mobile device. Commerce can be done with less friction, payment(s) can be made instantly, auditors can cryptographically verify the signatures with unparalleled security.

While Bitt functions as a digital currency exchange that sees bitcoin being bought and sold in US dollars, Barbadian dollars & Jamaican dollars, co-founder and CEO Gabriel Abed confirmed that Bitt’s digital Barbadian dollar does not have any relation with the world’s most well-known cryptocurrency. Instead, it is similar to the fiat Barbadian dollar.

Abed added:

One of our digital Barbados dollars is equivalent to one dollar issued by the Central Bank of Barbados. What we do is allow people to do more with their money.

Powered by blockchain technology or that of a decentralized, distributed ledger, Bitt is positioning itself as a settlement platform for the Caribbean region. Bitt functions as a multi-faceted digital currency solutions provider, providing services as a digital asset exchange, mobile wallet and remittance provider. The company also founded the first bitcoin exchange in the island nation in early 2015.

In December 2015, two Barbadian economists recommended that the Central Bank of Barbados invest and hold a small portion of Bitcoin as a part of its foreign reserves, speculating that the cryptocurrency could become a key currency in the future.

Featured image from Shutterstock.