Latin America and the Caribbean

FinTech for public needs

• Founded in 2013
• HQ in Bridgetown, Barbados
• FTEs: 51-100
• Key clients/partners: The Central Bank of Nigeria, The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, The National Bank of Belize, TASCOMBANK
• Key executives: Brian Popelka, CEO: 14 years of experience in E-commerce at Overstock. Jim Martin, CTO: 25+ years experience in software development, architecture and management. Simon Chantry, CIO and co-founder: background in nuclear engineering, member of OECD Blockchain Advisory Board and WEF Digital Currency Governance Consortium. Patrick Hidalgo, CFO: 15+ years of experience in financial markets. 

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) refer to digital money which is the direct liability of a given central bank. For citizens, owning CBDC units will feel like having a checking account with the central bank (as opposed to a commercial bank). For central banks, CBDCs hold promise for broadening control over financial systems, increasing macro stability and efficiency, and promoting financial inclusion. 

CBDCs are open to several design questions: for example, should they leverage conventional payments infrastructure or distributed ledger technologies? Bitt, a financial technology startup, offers expertise and technology so that central bankers can answer such questions through experimentation and experiential learning. At the core is its Digital Currency Management System (DCMS) that enables central banks, financial institutions, and governments to deploy CBDC and stablecoin infrastructure. Bitt also facilitates at different points of CBDC deployment. For example, to specify CBDC technical requirements, central banks can trial DCMS features using Bitt’s “CBDC Sandbox” or “CBDC Pilot” services. 

Bitt’s offering is timely. A 2021 Bank of International Settlements survey found that 86 percent of central banks are actively researching CBDCs, 60 percent are experimenting and 14 percent are piloting. The pandemic sharpened both a shift away from physical notes and the urgency of quickly responding to financial instability, boosting CBDC consideration. Even before COVID-19, governments reasoned that CBDCs could buoy monetary sovereignty against foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies.

•  Expanding into new markets
•  Growing the team

Central Banks, Financial Institutions, Public Tax Authorities, Digital Government Agencies and Departments