Jamaica’s Central Bank Will Airdrop $16 Of Its CBDC To First 100 Users

Jamaica’s central bank will airdrop $16 off its CBDC to the first 100 citizens and adopters of the JAM-DEX CBDC wallet as we can see more today in our latest altcoin news.

In a bid to spread awareness and bolster usage, the government of Jamaica is all set to airdrop $16 to the first 100,000 citizens that will set up central bank digital currency wallets after April 1^st. While delivering the opening presentation for the 2022/23 budget debate in the House of Representatives this week, the Minister of Finance and the Public Service DR. Nigel Clarke stated that the main objective of the move is to encourage the citizens to use the CBDC as an option to conduct transactions.

Bank of Jamaica unveiled the country’s CBDC effort which was dubbed the Jamaica Digital Exchange in February with the tagline being “No cash, no problem.” The initiative is a part of the Government’s transformation of the economy in Jamaica. According to the Finance Minister, the individual with the existing bank account can become eligible for a JAM-DEX wallet and the Governemnt also plans to detail more incentives to use the new CBDC with the rollout of which is scheduled for the start of April to June. The central bank and government will push the BoJ to be the sole issuer of JAM-DEX and for the CBDC to be recognized as a legal tender.

Clarke mentioned that more merchants will pop up as vendors and places that accept JAM-DEx which will make the operation more widespread. The Government is also looking to incentivize businesses to set up electronic wallets and to conduct payments in JAM-DEX.

The stats from Jamaica Observer shows that about 17% of the population is unbanked and a few countries already jumped on the CBDC bandwagon. For jamaica, the study shows that a citizen without a bank account will spend more than those that do have a bank account. The CBDC can help in this journey and make users join the country’s banking system. For the unbanked, the minister stated that the citizens will need the CBDC wallet and KYC provisions:

“If you don’t have a bank account, all that is required to set up a JAM-DEX-enabled wallet are simplified Know Your Customer information: name, address, date of birth, tax registration number (TRN), and a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or voter identification card. Of course, once NIDS is fully implemented, this will be accepted.”

In the meantime, the JAM-DEXs unveiling was met with quite a mixed response. Some questioned the leaders’ motives behind the move and others were concerned about the choice of logo and the slogan.