Experts in the field of Digital Currency in the Caribbean reviewed the opportunities and risks associated with this type of currency at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean, on 12 March 2015.
Experts addressed the potential impact that digital currencies may have on sectors such as banking, e-commerce and remittance, and will discuss whether the use of this new range of electronic payment technologies can enable improvements to electronic and mobile-based payment systems and low-cost remittance services.
At an earlier meeting on this topic, significant value was found in facilitating discussion of concerns between the fledgling digital currency industry and agencies with responsibility for ensuring that adequate regulations are in place to protect the public interest, especially with regard to consumer protection and the prevention of money laundering.
ECLAC envisages that this second meeting will foster discussion and further facilitate exploratory research on the associated risks and potential benefits of digital currency use in the subregion.
ECLAC also plans to review national policies to address the increasingly wide-spread use of cryptocurrencies, such as BitCoin, as well as other related technologies in the field of digital payments, with a view to determining how such new technologies will likely impact the Caribbean.
