While a number of countries are working on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), on Tuesday, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) announced it will soon be piloting a CBDC project. The BoJ is working with a firm called Ecurrency Mint Incorporated and plans to pilot the cryptocurrency in May.
Jamaican CBDC to Pilot this May
Jamaica, the island country situated in the Caribbean Sea has plans to pilot a CBDC this May as it has been working with an “extensive procurement process.” The country’s central bank, the BoJ, has chosen a technology provider to help with the CBDC solution. The startup the bank found dubbed Ecurrency Mint Incorporated stems from the BoJ’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox.
“Ecurrency Mint will also be the provider when the national CBDC roll-out begins in early 2022,” the central bank’s announcement notes. The CBDC pilot will be tested thoroughly in May and all the way until the end of December 2021. According to the central bank’s notice, the CBDC will work alongside paper notes and Jamaican coinage.
The BoJ explains:
Ecurrency Mint is a global thought leader and pioneer of the hardware, software, and cryptographic security protocol technology to enable central banks to securely issue, distribute and supervise CBDC, a digital fiat currency that will operate alongside notes and coins as digital legal tender.
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