Sand Dollar is the Bahamas sovereign Cryptocurrency. The Sand Dollar is a digital version of the Bahamian dollar (BSD) and is valued at 1-to-1 ratio with the regular Bahamian dollar, which is pegged to the United States dollar. ^[9]

Bahamian officials see the Sand Dollar as a way to make digital payments easier, mainly on some of the more remote islands which play a critical role in country's the tourism-dependent economy ^[16]

The Central Bank of the Bahamas went into an official agreement with The Bahamas based blockchain company, NZIA. with the help of the NZIA and the international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, they were able to develop and implement the digital version of the Bahamian dollar in May 30, 2019.

On December 27, 2019, Central Bank of The Bahamas launched their new digital currency on the remote Island of Exuma. It was then released on the Abaco Islands in the first half of 2020.^[1][2][3]

With the launch of the trial, there were some limitations on the use of the Sand Dollar.

Businesses could not have more than $1 million BSD in their digital accounts and the accounts of residents would max out at $500.

Businesses were also not allowed to transact more than one-eighth of their annual business through the wallets in any given month.

^[1]

After the rollout of the Sand Dollar in Exuma and Abaco, transactions began to occur in supermarkets, bill payment services, street vendor operations, and local restaurants.

In October 2020, the Bahamian government plans to roll out the Sand Dollar nationwide.^[6]

Once the system is up and running, holders throughout the country will be able to use their mobile phones to make person-to-person or business transactions even while offline.

New Sand Dollars are minted by the central bank and are issued when physical Bahamian dollars are retired to keep from skewing monetary policy.

^[9]

Sand Dollar accounts are subject to the same rules as traditional bank accounts, with anti-money-laundering and know-your-client safeguards in place.