East Caribbean Central Bank Conducts ‘Milestone’ Retail Digital Currency Transaction

The East Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has executed the first retail transaction for its “DCash” digital currency.

• The successful transaction using the central bank digital currency (CBDC) was conducted at a supermarket in Grenada on Feb. 12, technology partner Bitt announced.
• "This transaction is a major milestone in our mission to place DCash in the hands of the people of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. ... We are now on the cusp of the public launch of DCash," said Timothy Antoine, governor of the ECCB.
• The public launch will see the roll out of DCash in four of the eight members of the East Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU): Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia.
• The central bank been developing the blockchain-based CBDC with Bitt, a Barbados-based fintech company, after a deal was struck in spring 2018.
• Work on the CBDC began in 2019, with the infrastructure built over the last year using Bitt's digital currency management system (DCMS).

See also: Mastercard Launches Prepaid Card for World’s First CBDC in Bahamas