Business
Bitt – The Caribbean’s first bitcoin and digital exchange launches March 30
After 2 years of planning and development, Bitt – the Caribbean’s first bitcoin and digital exchange company, will be launched on March 30. This means that people across the region will soon have access to a software platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies and digital commodities with traditional banking integration.
According to Bitt co-founders Gabriel Abed and Oliver Gale, their plan is to have digital currencies stand side by side with traditional currencies throughout the Caribbean in the not too distant future.
Following the company’s official launch, bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency, will become accessible to citizens across the Caribbean region, including the estimated 60 percent who are currently unbanked, or under banked.
“We serve the international market but are focused and centered on the Caribbean offering the core services of mobile digital wallets, international remittances and e-commerce merchant solutions utilizing new software called bitcoin and blockchain,” Gale, the company’s CFO said.
Bitt, which is based in Hastings, Barbados, is offering a system that is completely branded, built, designed and managed in the Caribbean. The company provides high tech systems at a fraction of the cost of the money transfer systems currently used in the region.
Gabriel Abed, the company’s CEO, is of the view that traditional legacy financial systems are outdated. “They have huge buildings and many employees. They have paper systems, centralized management ledgers,” he said.
Abed explained: “Everything you can pay for in cash, I can pay for in bitcoin.”
Abed’s involvement in the world of digital currency was a natural progression from his educational pursuits. A graduate with a Bachelors degree in Information Technology majoring in Network Security, his professional qualifications cover cryptography, software development and intrusion detection systems.
Abed was introduced to cryptocurrencies in early 2010 during his undergraduate studies but over the past 12 years, he has been leading software development innovations in the region as part of a team of dedicated developers.
His business partner, Gale, followed a different academic route, earning an honors degree in accounting and management from the University of Bristol. He was introduced to Bitcoin in 2012 and immediately immersed himself in the field, combining his knowledge of traditional finance with a growing knowledge of digital finance.
At present, Bitt is run by an 8-member team, headed by Abed and Gale, as well as three advisers: Peter Tod, Barry Gale and Jeremy Stephen. Once the company is fully implemented, users will be able to sign up to log on to Bitt website, follow the instructions and immediately start accepting bitcoin from anyone around the world.
The system is being introduced in response to the need for a better payment systems in the region to reduce the high costs and red-tape associated with traditional electronic payment systems.
According to a recent ECLAC (Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean) report, the Caribbean needs to lower the cost of remittance services. Digital currencies represent a potential option for doing just that.
Abed and Gale were in Trinidad & Tobago last week for a meeting organised by ECLAC involving regulators and representatives of digital currency companies. The talks were aimed at developing a framework for regulation of the system.
At the meeting, held at ECLAC’s sub-regional headquarters for the Caribbean on March 12, Caribbean experts in the field of digital currency reviewed the opportunities and risks associated with that type of currency.
They also addressed the potential impact digital currencies may have on sectors such as banking, e-commerce and remittance and whether its use can enable improvements to electronic and mobile-based payment systems and low-cost remittance services.
ECLAC plans to review national policies in anticipation of the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, as well as technologies in the field of digital payments, to determine how they will impact the region.
Gale and Abed said there are some challenges in the implementation of the system, including lack of e-commerce-supporting legislation, inadequate technical capability and difficulties working with some local banks, but they are determined to get over those hurdles.
In Trinidad & Tobago, the enabling legislation is relatively new, and is primarily focused on electronic payments for government systems. However, widespread use of mobile-phones in the region and easy availability to facilitate financial payments or transactions through short message service (SMS) messages and other widely available systems, means there is scope for acceptance and use of digital currencies within a relatively short space of time.
Bitcoin uses cryptography-based block-chain technology. At the core of the system is a ledger that can be used to transfer title of ownership to units of digital currency. It is largely self regulating, with features built into the protocol that provide consumer protection and traceability.
The Bitt co-founders are optimistic that within a matter of months consumers in several parts of the region will be accessing bitcoin’s fully automated, transferable management ledger. “We are riding a technology wave with finance that is cutting costs, making it faster, making it cheaper, making it possible for people outside of the banking systems to control their money using their mobile phones,” said Abed.
“Our company will provide a regulated environment for these global services in a compliant way.”
At present, Dominca, together with Antigua & Barbuda are the only 2 Caribbean countries that are actively in the process of adopting bitcoin