Saint Kitts CBDC Tracker

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank launched its 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.”

Consumers can access the CBDC through the DCash Wallet mobile app. The CBDC was built by the company Bitt Inc. to run on Hyperledger Fabric and consumers can load money into their wallets by trading in cash at approved locations or by converting money from a bank account.

However, in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, most of the reviews express frustration—particularly over waiting months for accounts to be verified. Customers were also frustrated when the CBDC experienced an outage for two months in 2022. This outage meant that consumer funds were effectively frozen in place with little more than the central bank’s word that the money would eventually be available again. It was ultimately found that the CBDC outage was caused by an expired certification.

In late 2023, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union announced that it was looking for a new contractor to redevelop its CBDC.

St. Kitts and Nevis earned an 89 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. In fact, no major concerns were reported that directly relate to the use of a CBDC. Furthermore, it must also be said that the ability to abuse a CBDC directly is debatable because the CBDC used in St. Kitts and Nevis is provided by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank—representing the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. Even then, however, it’s important to recognize that the creation of a CBDC could open the door to risks to financial privacy and financial freedom.

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.