Upwards of 5,000 people on an archipelago that is located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines may now pay using Bitcoin.
Locals and tourists to Bequia Islands would be able to pay for products and services with Bitcoin, per a Euronews story. The new endeavor is part of the “One Bequia” concept, which involves constructing and marketing luxury properties on the islands in Bitcoin.
Storm Gonsalves, an investor, is behind the initiative. According to the entrepreneur, the initiative was vital to address the issue of conventional banking institutions departing Caribbean countries. Gonsalves elaborated:
Due to ‘derisking’ by giant multinational banks, citizens of tiny island states are finding it very hard to transfer and accept funds worldwide. When these bigger organizations withdraw their intermediate financial services from small island-based financial institutions, this is referred to as derisking. This inhibits the island-based bankers from dealing on a global scale […] Cryptocurrency acceptance is far from a passing fad. It is a reaction to the very serious issues that locals experience as they become increasingly isolated from conventional financial services.
Following the footsteps of banking firms, a number of island governments have started to invest in cryptoassets.
Grenada, Antigua, St. Kitts, and Barbuda are just a few of the countries that have lately embraced DCash, according to Gonsalves. Likewise, the Bahamas has established its own virtual money guaranteed by the central reserve bank.
Bequia is gradually acquiring the moniker “Bitcoin Island.”
