Bahrain is considering adoption of Bitcoin (TIKER: BTC.EXANTE) and may issue bonds in this digital currency to experiment with blockchain technology, Hindu business reports.
According to Khalid Al Rumaihi, the chief executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, the Bahrain’s finance ministry is keen on adopting digital currencies and had even suggested that Bahrain could issue “bonds on a digital currency.”
In response to a query at the MIT Innovation Forum in the country’s capital city Manama on Wednesday, Rumaihi said that Bahrain was “open to Bitcoin,” adding that a regulatory sandbox was the proper way to allow experimentation in a controlled environment.
Bahrain Central Bank had recently put in place Regulatory Sandbox regulations and as many as four companies had so far applied in this regard.
Two of the four had already received approval from the central bank.
Rumaihi added that a Bitcoin company from Saudi Arabia was looking to establish a Bitcoin exchange in Bahrain.
“I hate to be a regulator today. Because we are obliged to protect the consumers and customers. There is fear about funding and anti-money laundering. We are going to be looking through the Regulatory Sandbox allowing small-scale experimentation,” he explained.