The Central Bank Of Bahrain Launches Blockchain Sandbox For Companies

The Central Bank of Bahrain is launching a regulatory sandbox that will allow for crypto companies to work in the country because of the current pending regulations. This crypto news comes from Bloomberg on February 20.

Back in December 2018, the central bank of Bahrain initially issued a regulatory draft to potentially regulate the crypto asset services and to provide licenses for the crypto services. The regulatory framework that is still currently open for consultation and modification and the regulatory sandbox will allow crypto companies to work in a trial phase for nine months.

The business manager at the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, Dalal Buhejii, told while speaking for an interview with Bloomberg, that this initiative will enable crypto companies ‘’to test their solution on a limited number of users with a limited number of transactions.’’ Buhejii also explained that this initiative aims to ease up and speed up the entrance of new companies into the market.

There are currently 28 companies approved for the sandbox including SprinkleXchange which is a blockchain-powered initial public offering platform that is run by a New York-based Sprinkle Group SA.

According to Bloomberg, the goal to attract blockchain talent for Bahrain comes because of the strong striving movements of the country’s economy to offset the huge debt in the aftermath of the crash of oil prices in 2014. In 2018, the allies of the country pledged $10 billion in aid to support its economy which is the smallest one of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The CEO of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain perceives blockchain as a huge opportunity for the country after in November 2018 the Institute of Banking and Finance in the country launched a Blockchain Academy that will offer courses in blockchain development and strategy.