
The Bahamas to allow tax payments in digital assets
Prime Minister Phillip Davis unveiled a white paper that charts out his plans for the digital asset future of the island, which he wants to make it the leader in the Caribbean.
Prime Minister Phillip Davis unveiled a white paper that charts out his plans for the digital asset future of the island, which he wants to make it the leader in the Caribbean.
The PwC Global CBDC Index placed Nigeria and the Bahamas at the top of the retail CBDC developments, with Thailand and Hong Kong leading the wholesale sector.
PwC published its inaugural Global CBDC Index recently, measuring global central banks’ maturity level in deploying their own digital currency.
After the Bahamas, Jamaica would pilot test central bank digital currency. Roll-out expected in early 2022.
The Bahamas launched the Sand Dollar as it sought to insulate its financial system against the constant disruptions that occur whenever the country experiences a natural disaster.
The world’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC) has finally launched in The Bahamas—overtaking economic giants like the United States and China.
The small Caribbean nation officially deployed the historic Sand Dollar, a state-backed virtual currency circulating across financial institutions, businesses and consumers in the country. With its own CBDC, the country seeks to “advance more inclusive access to regulated payments and other financial services for under-serviced communities and socio-economic groups.”
The Central Bank of Bahamas (CBOB) also aims to reduce cost and increase service efficiency across the nation with Sand Dollar. CBOB implemented Sand Dollar after just over two years of pilot tests.
From one groundbreaking moment in history to the next, PayPal officially entered the digital currency market changing the game. But did it really?
Through its partnership with regulated financial institution Paxos, PayPal now allows customers to buy, hold and sell virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts. Its wallet, however, cannot accept external deposits. It also does not support withdrawals to external wallets or facilitate digital currency transfers.
Soon, users can convert their digital currencies to fiat currencies to spend at PayPal’s merchants. This will roll out in 2021.
PayPal announced that merchants would have no additional integrations or fees. This also means that PayPal transaction fees still apply.
Some Twitter users weren’t pleased by the news. User @007_xia commented that it’s just another “HODL scheme.” HODL is the term used to hold bitcoin until its value massively increases magically.
https://twitter.com/007_Xia/status/1320746352964415491?s=20
User @1Bitdaddy tweeted, “Paypal running on BitCoin aka BSV with fees reduced drastically to benefit all would've been BIG news.
https://twitter.com/1BitDaddy/status/1318925856669093889?s=20
Bitcoin SV allows microtransactions with a minimal fee. Its infrastructure is also on its way to handle nanotransactions in the future, which payments giant PayPal’s hundred millions of users can benefit from.
This week, the Bitcoin white paper turns 12. Titled, “Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System,” the white paper was first published on October 31, 2008, by Dr. Craig Wright using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
Around this time last year, Wright’s infamous "Pumpkin Man Craig" meme was born.
He was speaking onstage at a forum in London when audience member Andrea Lazar became accidentally famous by yelling at Craig in rage and fury, "That's exactly what you want! You are a mole, trying to crash Bitcoin. Farmer Craig! Pumpkin man Craig! Go back to your farm, and your tomatoes, and grow a superfarm."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OekM65zPbc&feature=youtu.be
The video went viral and shortly after, the Bitcoin social media erupted with memes of Angry Lazar and Pumpkin Man Craig.
Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen even joined the fun and created a competition for the Best Pumpkin Man meme. A Twitter search with the hashtag #PumpkinManCraig shows the entire collection.
Enjoy looking back at this fun and crazy time in the history of Bitcoin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHo79k6rv3M&feature=youtu.be
" title="CoinGeek Pulse Episode 18: World’s first CBDC, PayPal’s HODL scheme and Pumpkin Man Craig" />This week in CoinGeek Pulse, we are running down the top stories that shake the Bitcoin and blockchain industry.
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has developed the Sand Dollar to be transferrable via mobile phones, making it easy to use for the residents.
Officials at the Central Bank of the Bahamas are looking at integrating the Sand Dollar into the global financial system.
The Bahamas, a country of 400,000 people, has been pilot testing its digital currency—the Sand Dollar—since December 2019.
There was $48,000 worth of its central bank digital currency, the Sand Dollar, in circulation, according to the Bahamas central bank.
Bahamas started developing the Sand Dollar after the 2019 hurricane, seeking to "full-proof" its financial system against such destruction in the future.
A former AG with the Caribbean island of Anguilla has urged Bahamas to step up its efforts in implementing a digital currency or risk losing to its neighbors.