​St. Kitts and Nevis will discuss the legalization of BCH as a means of payment

What’s new? Following El Salvador and the Central African Republic, another country may recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender. In question is the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. According to Prime Minister Terrance Drew, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash (BCH) may officially become legal tender by March 2023. The announcement was made on November 12 during the BCH2022 conference.

The full video of the conference

What else is known about the proposal? According to Drew, who also serves as St. Kitts and Nevis’ finance minister, a final decision will be made after due diligence and consultation with experts and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. The official also added that his country has always been forward-thinking and leading the way in exploring new industries, and the cryptocurrency revolution has the potential to bring tremendous benefits and business opportunities.

Drew stressed that he welcomes the opportunity for further dialogue to explore Bitcoin Cash mining, as well as making the asset legal tender by March 2023. The government’s statement also indicated that the financial security issues of citizens should be worked out in advance.

Bitcoin Cash is a fork of bitcoin that appeared in 2017. The main goal of the project is to simplify and speed up transactions. According to Drew, the asset is already being used by some local businesses.

St. Kitts and Nevis is an island nation of about 50 000 people. Pavel Durov, the founder of Vkontakte and Telegram, has citizenship there. Citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis are exempt from income tax and capital gains tax.

In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to accept bitcoin as an official means of payment, after which the authorities began to purchase the asset at the expense of the state budget. A year later, 77% of citizens opposed the policy, and the IMF refused to give El Salvador a loan because of the legalization of BTC.

In April 2022, the CAR was the first in Africa to legalize bitcoin as a means of payment for economic recovery. In July, the authorities launched the bitcoin sidechain, Sango, and began selling the national digital currency, Sango Coin.