Barbadian startup Bitt plans to increase financial inclusion of the Caribbean population, building a new financial ecosystem based on blockchain. Colu and Netki are expected to help in reaching this goal.

A few days after announcing the launch of the digital Barbadian dollar, and almost a year after launching the first Caribbean digital asset exchange, Bitt enters into partnership with Colu and Netki, says International Business Times.

Colu is an Israeli-based startup that works with Colored Coins, adding meta-data to bitcoin blockchain. This partnership allows Bitt to create digital versions of fiat currencies. Barbadian dollar is the first but it is expected to be followed by other Caribbean currencies.

Netki is a company that replaces complicated bitcoin addresses with easy-to-remember wallet names. Bitt will use the Netki bi.tt domain to generate addresses based on user-assigned usernames, like, for example, peter.bi.tt. It is supposed to make transferring money with Bitt as easy as sending or receiving an email.

The idea is to combine the advantages of both fiat and crypto. On the one hand, quickness and cheapness of settlement and financial inclusion that the banks so far have been unable to achieve (according to various estimates, 50 to 60% of people in the Caribbean are unbanked, including small business owners). On the other hand, digital Barbadian or Jamaican dollars will be more appealing to local people than bitcoins, easier to understand and to use.

According to Bitt, “Together, these technologies allow us to demystify cryptocurrencies and bring the convenience of a regular wallet into the digital space, minus all the insecurities and physicality. User friendliness and support are key to bringing modern solutions to a region denied these opportunities for so long.”

In November 2015, two Barbadian economists published a paper on digital currencies concluding that holding an amount of bitcoin may prove useful to the central bank of Barbados.

Alexey Tereshchenko