White Paper Outlines Future Of Bahamas In Digital Assets Sector

• Published date: 22 April 2022
• Subject Matter: Finance and Banking, Technology, Financial Services, Fin Tech
• Law Firm: Bahamas Financial Services Board
• Author: Bahamas Financial Services Board

The government will this year start enabling the access of Bahamians to digital assets using Bahamian dollars, and enable the payment of taxes using digital assets, Prime Minister Philip Davis announced yesterday as he tabled a policy white paper on the future of $3 trillion digital of digital assets global market in The Bahamas.

The white paper also promised the establishment of a digital advisory panel (DPA) tasked with reviewing evolving developments in the sector, as well as a digital asset policy committee in 2022.

Speaking to what he called a transformative emerging market, Davis said The Bahamas and Bahamians should be at the vanguard of this new frontier.

"My government's initial success in attracting significant digital asset businesses is only the beginning. We have a vision to transform The Bahamas into the leading digital asset hub in the Caribbean, and a global leader in the progressive regulation of businesses in this profoundly innovative space," he said in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The Digital Assets and Registered Exchange Bill (DARE Bill) was passed in 2020, paving the way for the issuance and trading of cryptocurrency in The Bahamas.

This new digital asset policy framework is a guidance, developed with the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) and The Central Bank of The Bahamas for now until 2026.

The white paper said under this framework it is expected that there will be substantial growth in the sector by 2025. The nine-point policy adjectives in the white paper include exploring new opportunities in decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), stablecoins and asset-referenced tokens; improving The Bahamas' attractiveness as a well-regulated jurisdiction for digital assets management and expanding the current legislative framework.

"To encourage innovation in the fintech space and identify emerging technologies that would help maintain The Bahamas' competitive advantage; to explore linkages between The Bahamas' existing financial services toolkit (i.e. corporate and fiduciary services) and to facilitate continued innovation in the international financial services sector; to develop the skills and expertise necessary to fill jobs created in the Bahamian digital assets sector; to work with The Central Bank of The Bahamas to ensure that polices are adjusted and clarified to enable Bahamians to access digital assets in Bahamian dollars," the prime minister said yesterday of the policy objectives.

"To build...