Antigua and Barbuda CBDC Tracker

Antigua and Barbuda is part of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and temporarily had a CBDC. However, it is now considered to be in the pilot phase.

Previously, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank launched a CBDC, referred to as DCash, in 2021. In 2023, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank governor Timothy Antoine said, “DCash is now in all eight member countries. With the onboarding of our marketing partner and exciting campaigns ahead, we expect DCash to become a household name in our Currency Union.”

However, the CBDC was officially shut down on January 12, 2024.

Additional information can be found on the page dedicated to the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

According to most major reports, Antigua and Barbuda has relatively few human rights concerns. However, there are two concerns that should not be overlooked when considering the risks posed by CBDCs: government corruption and discrimination. Before diving into those risks, it must be said that the ability to abuse a CBDC directly is debatable because the CBDC used in Antigua and Barbuda is provided by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank—representing the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

Government corruption remains a concern in Antigua and Barbuda despite efforts to establish more formal safeguards. For example, there are criminal penalties that can be applied to corrupt officials, but Freedom House reports that the “laws are enforced unevenly.” The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

Discrimination is another point of concern. Specifically, with respect to the LGBTQ+ community. It was only in 2022 that laws against anal sex were determined to be unconstitutional in Antigua and Barbuda. As Human Rights Watch explained, “While laws criminalizing LGBT intimacy in the Caribbean are rarely enforced, they are broad in scope, are vaguely worded, and serve to legitimize bias and hostility toward LGBT people.” Unfortunately, CBDCs are particularly concerning with this issue because they could be used to identify and surveil members of the LGBTQ+ community.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.