Caribbean Island Residents Can Use Bitcoin for Local Transactions

More than 5,000 residents of the islands that form part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines can use cryptocurrency as a payment method.

According to a report from Euronews, residents and tourists of Bequia Island can use Bitcoin (BTC) to purchase goods and services from property to food at a local restaurant. The One Bequia project, backed by entrepreneur Storm Gonsalves, is building luxury villas on the island for sale with BTC. Gonsalves said the move to accept cryptocurrencies is aimed at addressing the abandonment of the Caribbean island’s traditional financial system.

“The adoption of cryptocurrency is by no means a gimmick. It is a response to real challenges facing island communities that are increasingly cut off from mainstream banking facilities,” Gonsalves said.

He clarified:

"It is increasingly difficult for residents of small island nations to send and receive money internationally due to 'expediting' by large international banks. This is a risk when large institutions pull their intermediary banking services away from smaller island community banks. This prevents island banks from conducting international transactions."

The island is currently home to a branch of the Bank of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and also accepts the Eastern Caribbean dollar for fiat transactions. Gonsalves cited Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Lucia as examples of recent adoption of DCash by island nations in the Caribbean, thus delaying the move away from international trade. The Bahamas has also issued its own central bank digital currency, the “Sand Dollar.”

Although the entrepreneur claims that many people are “still skeptical of cryptocurrencies,” the technology could offer island residents an attractive investment. Some residents have already dubbed Bequia “Bitcoin Island,” giving residents the opportunity to use crypto assets as a medium of exchange.

“The Caribbean is known for its laid-back island vibe,” Gonsalves said. “It’s not the place you expect to see groundbreaking real estate developments around the world. I wanted to disrupt that and surprise the world by pioneering a new way to finance projects, using alternative payment methods like Bitcoin.”