Daily Archives: October 9, 2021

NHL Tracking Pucks this Season, Opening up Gambling Options – Sports Illustrated

Posted: October 9, 2021 at 7:41 am

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

By Larry Lage

DETROIT (AP) The latest generation of NHL pucks have six circles on both sides covering tubes that allow infrared cameras to constantly connect the vulcanized rubber with a puck and player tracking system.

After a bumpy start last season with microchipped pucks that didnt slide right, the latest versions have worked so well that at least one coach wasnt sure if they were in play yet.

Im not aware that we have used those pucks yet this season, Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. I wish we would so we could feel them.

That seems to be a good sign. The NHL attempted to track pucks last January, but took them off the ice six days into the season.

We went away from it because the puck didnt glide right, Blashill recalled. It didnt feel like a real puck. Obviously, thats the trick. I think puck tracking is a great thing that will really help the analytics a lot.

That is indeed the key: Data generated by the pucks and from sensors about the size of a thumb on the backs of players will be used by teams to develop their players and to scout opponents. Passing, puck possession, takeaways, giveaways and more can be accurately recorded without the potential subjectivity of a scoring crew in an arena.

In contract negotiations, it isnt difficult to envision a day when teams and agents point to data generated by the tracking system.

Everything that could be used against you, it could also be used for you, Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said.

TV networks will continue to display and talk about some of the information on broadcasts and studio shows.

We have to make sure the data is used in the right context, said former NHL player Anson Carter, now an analyst for Turner Sports. We all know (Colorado center) Nathan MacKinnon is fast and if the data says hes going nearly 40 mph, Id use it if it showed that two or three other players were perhaps 7 mph slower and integrate it into an analysis to hammer home a point.

Fans who want to know how fast players skate, how hard they shoot and more will be able to choose options that will show the data on an overlay as they watch on a big, medium or small, hand-held screen. Some details were announced in February.

Were going to let fans decide how much or how little they want to incorporate it, NHL vice president of business development and innovation Dave Lehanski said. They will be able to create a personally customized viewing experience.

Perhaps later this season, gamblers are expected to be able to wager on a new wave of bets. How far does the puck travel in a game? Who skates the fastest in the second period? Who has the hardest shot in the game?

This is going to re-engineer the hockey better experience, which to put it politely is sub-optimal because its all about game outcomes, NHL vice president of technology Keith Horstman said. Its exciting that this data is going to lead to in-play betting.

But, its going to take some time to figure out what fans care enough to bet on and how the odds and probability will work. Were working on it and Id like to say it will happen this season.

Brett Abarbanel, director of research at the UNLVs International Gaming Institute, expects there to be an appetite for the betting once the details are worked out by the NHL.

This is the type of wagering that is attractive to fans so youre going to see increased interest because these are wagers that can close more quickly, Abarbanel said. If I want to bet that the Vegas Knights are going to beat the San Jose Sharks, I have to wait until the end of the game. If I dont want to wait, maybe I can bet on who skates the fastest in the first five minutes of the game.

While gamblers will use the data to try to make money, coaches will take the information hoping to gain a competitive advantage to win games.

The puck tracking piece is critical and were excited about it with our analytics group, Blashill said. We think it take some of the things we have in place and bring it to a whole other level.

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Cashless gambling technologies grab industry’s attention, but will players buy in? – Las Vegas Sun

Posted: at 7:41 am

Steve Marcus

Rachelle Rabago, IGT director of casino systems product management, demonstrates cashless gaming technology as she transfers money from an IGT Pay resort wallet on a smartphone to a video slot machine during the Global Gaming Expo at the Venetian Expo, Tuesday, Oct. 5,2021.

By Bryan Horwath (contact)

Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 | 2 a.m.

At this weeks Global Gaming Expo, cashless gambling is a hot topic.

Companies are showing off their latest payment technologies, and London-based International Game Technologys cashless casino management system was recognized as the product innovation of the year.

Yet just outside the Venetian Expo, where the annual convention is taking place, gamblers are busy feeding paper bills into slot machines on the casino floor and slapping greenbacks on blackjack tables in exchange for clay chips.

Despite all the buzz, there is still an obvious gulf between the industry and the millions of gamblers used to doing things the old-fashioned way.

Theres no doubt that cashless is, from the operators perspective, hugely beneficial, said Rich Schneider, chief product officer at Scientific Games, which is headquartered in Las Vegas.

The key question is whats in it for the player and what will the player adoption rate be? This isnt a logical business that were in its an emotional business, Schneider said.

Attempts to introduce cashless solutions at casinos have had mixed results, Schneider said. Nonetheless, there is a tipping point in favor of cashless gaming on the horizon, he said.

The pandemic has advanced the trend by making people more conscious about handling common items like money and coins, he said.

Players will demand a more frictionless experience, Schneider said. Sports betting and online gaming will move it along as well. Prior to COVID, I would have said that point was seven or eight years off. Post-COVID, given the general adversity to money and tickets, thats different now.

More and more Scientific Games customers, including Las Vegas casino operators, are asking about cashless products, Schneider said.

At Resorts World, the tech-savvy resort that opened on the north Strip in June, gamblers can play slot machines without cash through their players card. The system runs through SYNKROS player tracking software developed by Konami Gaming.

Sports betting has also been on the leading edge of cashless, mobile betting, with multiple sports books offering online wagering.

Gaming equipment manufacturers in Las Vegas and around the world are jockeying for position in the race to cash-free gaming.

At this weeks convention, companies like Sightline Payments and Global Payments Inc. have booths on the showroom floor.

On Tuesday, IGTs cashless casino management system IGT Advantage earned the Product Innovation of the Year Award at the Global Gaming Awards, an annual part of the expo.

IGT Advantage includes an avenue for players to gamble with funds using either a card or by having their smartphone linked to the casino floor.

It is being tested at some Nevada casinos.

Cashless technology is also being used at some casinos in New York and Michigan, two of eight states where digital payments are accepted at casinos, according to the American Gaming Association.

Also this week at G2E, MasterCard announced a partnership with tech companies AptPay and NRT Technology to introduce a cashless system called smartSEND, which is geared toward the gaming industry.

The system will enable casinos to instantly disburse casino winnings to bank accounts or other mobile wallets, the companies said.

Everybody kind of has their own secret sauce on how they make the cashless experience seamless, Schneider said. Theres a need to meet player and operator demand. Theres a flurry of activity right now.

Since online shopping and near-field technology options like Apple Pay where an iPhone user can pay by simply putting their phone near a payment device have become popular, some observers wonder why similar options for gaming arent more widely available.

Nasr Sattar, senior vice president of innovation at NRT Technology, said the gaming industry lagged other businesses when it came to monetary convenience innovations.

The pattern of innovation, in both hardware and software, seems to go from retail to banking to gaming, he said. Theres various reasons for that, but thats the general path.

Phil OShaughnessy, vice president of global communications for IGT, which has offices in Las Vegas, said that with so many people used to the convenience of cashless payments in other areas, its certainly time for this to really gather some momentum in gaming.

But will cash one day completely disappear from the gaming floor?

What will happen is players will, over time, get used to the convenience of cashless. Youll see momentum continue to build for cashless, OShaughnessy said. But cashless and cash with always, I think, co-exist nicely in the gaming space.

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Global survey reveals more respondents in favour of legal online gambling – DTNext

Posted: at 7:41 am

Online casinos have highest participants from India

YouGov commented that Fueled by innovation, de-regulation in key markets, and the pandemic, its clear that the popularity of online gambling globally has achieved new highs.

Italy, UK, France say businesses do not take problem of gambling seriously

Nation-by-nation, Italy has the highest number of participants 69 per cent - who express the view that online gaming platforms neglect gambling-related problems. The United Kingdom and France are second and third with 66 per cent and 59 per cent negative opinions respectively. They are followed by Germany with 52 per cent, the United States with 50 per cent, and Mexico with 45 per cent.

Buying online lottery tickets shows as the most prominent method of online gambling in the world with 42 per cent of all participants admitting they had done it. Sports betting follows with 36 per cent of respondents providing that answer. Instant win lottery games are third with 23 per cent, and online slots are played by 13 per cent of all participants.

Broken down by country, online lotteries are most popular in Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, and Singapore. Betting on sports is most prominent in Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, and the US. Indias most popular online gambling activity is playing fantasy sports.

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Fantasy sport, Karnatakas online gambling ban, and what policymaking gets wrong – Hindustan Times

Posted: at 7:41 am

Over the past few years, online fantasy sport (OFS) in India have gone from being a rather shady area of niche interest to becoming ubiquitous, so much so that a fantasy sport platform, Dream 11, was the title sponsor of IPL 2020. Indeed, the IPL viewing experience has changed significantly in recent years, with the long breaks between overs now stuffed with an array of commercials about cryptocurrencies, mutual funds and above all, fantasy sport. To someone unfamiliar with state-level policy developments in the country, this omnipresence of fantasy sport commercials would seem to suggest the presence of a thriving and safe fantasy sport industry, but the reality, of course, is quite the opposite.

Despite a Rajasthan High Court ruling (later upheld by the Supreme Court), stating that engaging in OFS is a business activity and, thereby, protected under article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, several states have either explicitly banned online fantasy sport or buried them under regulatory ambivalence.

The latest in this tradition of clamping down on a promising but nascent industry is Karnataka, which amended its 1963 Police Act to ban online gambling. As The Indian Express reported, The amended law also puts betting on the skills of others in the category of gambling and also states that any act of risking money or otherwise on the unknown result of an event including on a game of skill is an offence.

This provision, thus, extends the ambit of the law beyond just gambling and creates an atmosphere of uncertainty for OFS. The ambiguity created by the laws failure to distinguish between gambling and OFS is likely to incentivise overcompliance and lack of response uniformity among OFS platforms. This is reflected by the fact that, as of October 6, Mobile Premier League (MPL) and Paytm First Games have blocked access for Karnataka-based users but Dream11 has not.

The law is problematic at three levels conceptual, economic and ethical, each of which reveals the problems that persist in Indian policymaking.

Conceptually confused

The distinction between gambling and other forms of financial investment in games is based on the framework of games of chance vs games of skill. The easiest way to understand this difference is by observing the pattern of rewards a player accrues over time.

In a game of skill, a person can learn to get better at playing and consequently, is likely to make more money as time passes. In a game of chance, one cannot get better at playing, and their rewards/losses, therefore, do not show a pattern of improvement.

It is important to remember that this binary framework does not mean that a game of skill can have no element of chance involved in it, because even real sport itself has an element of chance (think of how the toss affects outcomes in cricket). The framework only identifies whether skill or chance play the overwhelming role in determining a games outcome.

Creating fantasy teams and participating in fantasy sport contests, as would be obvious to many, involves a significant amount of domain knowledge, for instance, of cricket gameplay, player form, pitch conditions, and a deep understanding of the intricacies of T20 cricket (like wickets in powerplay overs are more valuable than in the death overs). Thus, investing money in an OFS cannot be called gambling.

Curiously, the amended Karnataka Police Act makes two exceptions betting on horse races and lottery contests. These exceptions are telling. The exemption of betting on horse racing shows the differential treatment given to a real-world, well-established activity that policymakers can understand readily, as opposed to online fantasy sport, which are a virtual, emerging activity and perhaps more difficult to grasp. Yet, at their heart, both activities are similar if not the same, involving investing money on the outcome of a skill-based sport or the performance of people involved in the sport. This step-motherly treatment meted out to innovative, tech-driven improvements on existing activities, drives policymaking in other innovative industries as well.

One can also use this exemption to argue for the need for greater representation of the countrys youth in politics, since the participants in online fantasy sports, in contrast to horse-race betting, are more likely to be youngsters, just as youngsters are more likely to be the ones driving innovation in broader tech startup space in general. Indeed, the motivation behind the bill is to protect the youth from becoming habitual gamers and stop them from being idle.

The exemption given to entering lottery contests, which are as chance-driven as one can possibly imagine, can be interpreted to be based on the fact that a lottery ticket, generally, costs little money. This differential treatment based on the quantum of money at risk is completely ad hoc. The skill vs chance framework determines whether a financial activity can be called gambling. It is thereby a property inherent to the design of the game, and therefore does not depend on arbitrary factors such as the quantum of money actually at stake. Buying a 100 lottery ticket is as much an act of gambling as gambling thousands at a roulette table. This points to the larger problem of the lack of principle-based policymaking in India, which is driven instead by arbitrary paternalism.

Economically detrimental

According to a discussion draft published by NITI Aayog in December last year, the OFS industry has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 212 per cent, from 2 million users in June 2016 to 90 million users in December 2019. This staggering growth brings with it great potential, including the possibility of over &10,000 crore in foreign direct investment and a further 10,000 crore in taxes over the next 5 years. In Karnataka alone, the online gaming industry employs an estimated 4000 people. Right up front, in its executive summary, the NITI Aayog document argues:

With a large market of Indian sports fans and availability of digital infrastructure and engineering talent in India, the OFSP industry can be an engine for growth, employment and innovation in fantasy sports across the world, and also become a global hub for fantasy sports. The think tank also conducted a consultation in September last year with industry representatives in order to arrive at principles and recommendations that would serve to enable the growth of the OFSP industry.

This dissonance between state governments and the Government of Indias think tank on the matter of OFS platforms shows the Indian State to be an incoherent entity, whose vision and goals, far from being uniform, are in active conflict with each other. Add to this equation the importance of an indigenous online gaming and fantasy sport industry to the Union Governments (led, currently, by the same political party as the Karnataka state government) own policy of Digital India, and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and you have a thoroughly-confused policy environment.

This is likely to create uncertainty and suspicion (perhaps the most significant barrier in a promising high-tech industry) in the minds of entrepreneurs, even if many Indian states do not engage in such heavy-handed legislation, and/or the judiciary continues to uphold OFS as games of skill.

Ethically blind

Of course, none of what I have said so far should be taken to mean that the OFS industry has no issues or risks associated with it. As with any other form of engaging and/or financial activity, the risk of addiction exists and so does the risk of unscrupulous platforms with unfair practises reducing games of skill, in effect, to fraud. These problems need attention and deliberation, not an outright ban.

A regulatory regime is required, which would address issues of data protection, fraud and addiction, keeping consumer interest in mind while enabling the industry to grow. For this, the NITI Aayog has proposed the creation of a self regulatory body that is recognised by the government.

One such body, the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), already exists. It is also possible to argue for regulation to be driven by legislation or guidelines issued by the union government. Both approaches would come with their own set of trade-offs, but one can only begin to have this conversation when the legality of OFS platforms does not differ arbitrarily from one Indian state to the other.

Finally, one can argue against the ban on gambling altogether. Bans, as the cliche goes, dont solve problems, they only drive them underground. This is true of gambling as it is true of alcohol and narcotics. Bans work to absolve the government of its regulatory responsibilities. But deeming something illegal does not mean that the activity in question no longer exists and eventually, as has been well documented in the deaths due to contraband alcohol, unregulated, banned activities and substances end up hurting the very people the bans intend to protect.

Paternalisic bans, therefore, can be seen as moral failures. In the end, it is telling, perhaps, that I had to talk about substance abuse to make my point about how Indias policy landscape is thwarting a promising and innovative industry.

Atish Padhy works at the Takshashila Institution

The views expressed are personal

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Lockdown gambling: Women’s secret addiction – Press and Journal

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Lockdown gambling: Women's secret addiction Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. Linked In An icon of the Linked In logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo.

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The Alternative Adult: Bahamas Massachusetts Daily Collegian – The Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Posted: at 7:40 am

Oct. 6, 2021 at Gateway City Arts, Holyoke

Astghik Dion / Daily Collegian

The crisp, fall air accompanied the mellow fairy lights strung across the ceiling of Gateway City Arts to envelope Holyokes concertgoers in a cozy and pleasant atmosphere on Wednesday night. College students and millennials alike floated in and out of the open venue throughout the two hour and a half show, most gravitating towards either the bar or the stage. The sea of jean jackets and arms holding cups of beer fell into a gentle lull at precisely 8 p.m. when Sam Weber and his band opened the show.

The group walked up meekly, entering a stage piled with a multitude of amps stacked on top of one another like building blocks, a glittery golden drum cover and tens of eager faces turned their way. After sharing comforting smiles between one another they launched into a captivating indie-folk set that had the crowd swaying from start to finish. Mostly playing songs from his 2019 album, Everything Comes True, the love and respect the Canadian singer-songwriter and his band had for one another was evident, as the entire show was filled with kind laughs and subtle soothing gestures between the members. They closed their set with Blackout, the ninth track from Everything Comes True. With a warm goodbye and genuine gratitude the band walked off, and began preparing the stage for Bahamas.

At 9 p.m., there was a change in atmosphere. The seemingly crowded and colorful stage was stripped down and isolated from the four-strong group that once preoccupied it. Afie Jurvanen waltzed on with nothing but a guitar in tow. Dressed in all black and without his usual band next to him, Bahamas presented a stark contrast between his set and that of Webers. Opening with his 2012 hit, Lost in the Light, the 40-year-old musician seemed more like an old friend rather than an artist that the audience had paid to see. Cracking jokes and interacting with the crowd between each song, Jurvanen made sure that the third date of his Still Sad Tour would be memorable, and enjoyable for all those in attendance.

Towards the beginning of his set, Jurvanen laughed about the fact that hes constantly referred to as an alternative adult musician as music publications and listeners alike seem to be puzzled on what genre to pin him.

I just end up in this corner with the castaways, the island of misfit toys, Jurvanen said. Im happy here, I dont consider myself much of an alternative adult I shop at Costco and everything.

The bulk of the show was encapsulated in his 2020 album, Sad Hunk, as he never had the opportunity to perform it when it was initially released. The tape was received positively by the audience, with songs such as Half Your Love, being sung straight back to the artist by the audience.

Im always trying to write a better love song, always trying to impress my wife with a better love song, Jurvanen said about the track. I thought I did pretty good with this one.

Per the name of the tour, Still Sad as well as his most recent record, Sad Hunk, it is no question as to what tribulations have been haunting the songwriter. Most of Jurvanens music is swaddled in upbeat chords and seemingly happy instrumentals, yet the lyrics tell a different story. The artist speaks about depression, and how it can permeate every aspect and relationship in your life.

Using music to turn your bad feelings into good music, Jurvanen said to the crowd. I use music to cheer myself up, you can change how you feel, you dont have to wait for permission. The way I change how I feel is through music.

Jurvanen then launched into No Depression, the 10th track of his 2018 album, Earthtones. Midway through the song a smile spread across his face as he scanned the crowd, see, Im feeling good now, just humming a little tune.

The audience was fully engaged for the entirety of the nearly one hour and 20 minute set, whether that be through clapping to the song in place of the missing percussion, or jesting with Jurvanen from the crowd.

What could easily have felt like a very lonely, and cold show with only one man and one guitar on stage turned into an experience reminiscent of a very large family gathering. All singing, laughing and drinking together. Bahamas ended his show with All the Time, a hypnotizing love or anti/love depending on how you receive it ballad to growing apart and growing up.

Astghik Dion can be reached at [emailprotected]

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ACCESS APPROVED: Bahamas vaccinations to be reconized by UK as of October 11 – EyeWitness News

Posted: at 7:40 am

NASSAU, BAHAMAS The United Kingdom government has announced changes to its travel restrictions that would recognize those with fully-vaccinated status from 37 new countries and territories including The Bahamas, treating them the same as UK fully vaccinated passengers.

The Bahamas will be added to that list as of October 11.

According to the United Kingdom Department for Transport, visitors going to England before that day will be required to follow protocols for people who are not fully vaccinated. A vaccine certificate to prove vaccination status will then be required for entry.

Visitors must be vaccinated at least 14 days before arrival in the country withOxford/AstraZeneca,Pfizer BioNTech,Moderna, or Janssen which are all available in The Bahamas.

Individuals with two-dose vaccines or a combination of them must have had both doses to be considered fully vaccinated.

Formulations of these vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, also qualify as approved vaccines.

As of the weekend, 104,380 people had been fully vaccinated more than 30 percent of the eligible population.

Vaccines are available for anyone aged 12 and over.

The government continues to encourage vaccination uptake.

As it relates to vaccine supply in The Bahamas, PAHO Assistant Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa has said PAHO continues to make every effort to increase access to vaccines of all its member states.

PAHO has recently commended the vaccine rollout in The Bahamas but said it is important for residents to continue to utilize public health and social measures, including testing as cases and deaths remain high in the region.

COVID deaths in The Bahamas stand at 586.

While The Bahamas case positivity rate stood at 13 percent on Wednesday, nearly three times the recommended rate, the figure has fluctuated to as high as 30 percent in recent days.

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MSC Seashore to make debut in Bahamas next month – Breaking Travel News

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MSC Cruises has revealed its latest flagship, MSC Seashore, will be officially named at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in the Bahamas on November 18th.

The event will become the first naming ceremony for a cruise ship to be held at a private island.

It will be attended by travel advisors and media as well as other key company stakeholders.

Departing Miami on November 17th, invitees will be able to get a first look at the new ship before she starts her inaugural seven-night cruise and United States season on November 20th.

As with every new MSC Cruises ship, Hollywood royalty Sophia Loren will perform the important role of Godmother as she officially names her 16th MSC Cruises ship.

The festivities will take place both on board and on the island as the ship will remain docked throughout the night, with a gala dinner, live entertainment and more.

The naming of MSC Seashore will see the formal inauguration of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, which opened in late 2019 and closed shortly thereafter due to the pandemic.

The island has since gone through further work and significant improvements, and this is an opportunity for MSC Cruises to showcase the island to the invitees on this occasion.

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The Sand Dollar: Digital Currency Of The Bahamas – Global Finance

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Could Bahamians be pioneers of a new world economy?

When the Bahamas got hit by hurricane Dorian in 2019, a string of islands named Abaco, on the north of the country-archipelago, got especially battered before the storm moved on to strike the better-known island of Grand Bahama to the east. Hundreds lost power and communications for days and almost 13,000 families lost their homes. Total damage was assessed at about US$3.4 billion, or more than 25% of the countrys annual pre-pandemic GDP of US$13.579 billion per International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures.

People were desperate for help, yet government aid trickled out slowly, and people couldnt get cash or rely on the physical or electronic banking infrastructure. This led to several looting events, especially in the Abaco chain, as well as a major flow of displaced people to the capital city of Nassau, which was largely spared.

The trauma caused by Dorian is often touted by officials from the Central Bank of the Bahamas as one of the biggest advantages to the countrys pioneer launch of the worlds first officially issued and central bank-backed digital currency (a CBDC)the Sand Dollar. Beyond serving as a means of digitally storing money directly at central banks and using it anywhere, digital currencies and wallets need not rely on Internet connections for payment transfers, which can be authenticated on-device via token technology, making it very convenient as a payment and storage method even when banks are not accessibleas in the days and weeks after Dorian in Abaco and the Grand Bahama.

The Sand dollar is for all intents and purposes Bahamian dollars by a different name only. The program launched in October 2020 but is only now starting to be implemented in earnest, with several commercial banking systems and payment providers connecting to mobile Sand Dollar wallets, and a renewed push to enroll individuals on the various platforms.

Because it is an extension of the countrys fiat currency, the Sand dollar carries the same guarantees as the regular Bahamian dollar, which is pegged at a one-to-one ratio to the US dollar. A CBDC is as trustworthy as the regular currency issued by the specific central bank backing it, says Henri Arslanian, Global Crypto Leader and Partner at PwC. What is special about CBDC is that it is central bank money. CBDC is de facto equivalent to a bank note, but in digital format. For the first time in our generation, we are seeing the emergence of a new form of central bank money, he explains.

While the launch of the first CBDC is headline-grabbing, the move doesnt come without some controversy. A high-ranking Western diplomat based on the islands and following the implementation of the Sand Dollar, who was not authorized to speak to the press, tells of local bankers wary of the lax enforcement of ID requirements to open digital Sand Dollar wallets. There is a growing perception that because ID enforcement is lax, the digital currency could, with time, become a possible tax evasion mechanism for individuals who open wallets under forged IDs. Another preoccupation is related to how acquisition of Sand Dollars may become a path to Bahamian fiscal domicile, and, again, a path to home-country tax evasion, says the diplomat.

Tomer Ravid, crypto entrepreneur and CEO at BloxTax, a cryptocurrency tax and anti-money laundering (AML) platform and auditing firm, is skeptical of that. Blockchain technology is very, very safe, and works based on consensus. Everything is transparent, some would argue too transparent. If I know your wallet, I can see every transaction and amount you have. By design, CBDCs will be permission-based blockchains, which means the central bank has even more control of what is happening, he says.

For now, the Bahamas has two levels of enrolment available to individuals: tier one users are not required to present any form of ID or link a bank account to open their Sand Dollar digital wallet, but they are only allowed to hold up to $500 at any given time in their e-wallet and are limited to a monthly transaction volume of $1,500. Tier two users are required to produce a government-issued ID and can link a bank account to their wallets. In exchange for the added layer of scrutiny, they can hold up to $8,000 in e-money with a monthly transaction limit of $10,000.

According to the diplomat, there is mounting evidence that the government ID requirement often means showing a regular utility bill in the country without any further checks to see if the user is the person named therein.

Even if that is the case, says Ravid, the amount you can hold as an individual is so low and available only domestically and in local currency that it hardly seems to be relevant in terms of trans-national illegal activities at this point, especially given the amount of Bahamian dollars in circulation..

Arslanian concurs. If you are a criminal, you are much better off using old-fashioned cash, he says. Even with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, it is still possible to trace and track movements across the blockchain over a time frame if you know what you are looking for.

PwCs Global CBDC Index report from April 2021 puts the Central Bank of the Bahamas and the Sand Dollar at the number one spot in the maturity of their CBDC-project development. According to the study, the islands lead the rank by a margin of more than 10% over the second most mature projectin Cambodiawith 92 points versus 83 points on a scale that peaks at 100.

However advanced the Sand Dollar, both Arslanian and Ravid caution that the Bahamas is too small an economy and in a peculiar geographical situation to serve as a major model for the implementation of other CBDCs.

The impact of the Sand Dollar is very limited, which doesnt mean its irrelevant, says Ravid. According to both crypto specialists the player to watch for is China. China may not have launched officially yet, but theyve been experimenting and planning the e-renminbi since 2014 [] They have already piloted the project with millions of users, and its sheer scale may change the landscape for CBDC, Arslanian says.

China has been quietly working on this for years and they have done everything right. They understand the power of having their own currency as a cheap alternative to other reserve currencies, and a digital currency could allow them to expand the use of the yuan internationally in a much simpler, cheaper, and faster way than moving cash or relying on international clearing houses, Ravid argues.

There may be other motives connected to the launch of CBDCs: more precise control of the economy and economic planning.

CBDCs will be huge. Picture the amount of economic planning itll give to central bankers. Suddenly youll be able to know exactly how much people are spending on things like coffee. More than that, depending on the implementation, you could know which type of coffee people are buying. That will allow governments to plan their economy in really specific terms, says Ravid.

CBDCs will give new tools for governments to manage the economy. In a situation like Covid-19, with a slumping economy, for example, you could disburse stimulus money that has a use by date. Either you spend that money helping quick start the economy, or it disappears from your digital wallet. You can even program the money to be usable on only certain types of goods or merchants, Arslanian explains.

As everything else, the new tools made available by the introduction of CBDCs could also be twisted to further tighten the grip of non-democratic and oppressive regimes over their populations, the Bahamas-based diplomat points out, however, the level of detail and control [introduced by CBDCs] could truly be a boon for central-bankers and other economy-planning stakeholders.

E-money also has an enormous disruption potential: transactions are carried out directly at the central bank level and can bypass retail banks for simple everyday transactions.

Ravid believes we are witnessing the early days of a new world in economics. The Bahamas is very, very small, but its the first project to launch. Its almost like a guinea pig for the rest of the world. And everybody is watching.

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The Sand Dollar: Digital Currency Of The Bahamas - Global Finance

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PAHO: Population becoming more relaxed as vaccination increases, some infected not testing – EyeWitness News

Posted: at 7:40 am

NASSAU, BAHAMAS As The Bahamas continued to experience quadruple the recommend coronavirus case positivity rate, the Pan American Health Organization said the rate of case positives can be attributed in part to the population becoming more relaxed as vaccinations increase and individuals do not present for testing after being exposed.

PAHO commended the vaccine rollout in The Bahamas, but said it is important for residents to continue to utilize public health and social measures, including testing as cases and deaths remain high in the region.

COVID deaths in The Bahamas stand at 586.

While The Bahamas case positivity rate stood at 13 percent on Wednesday, nearly three times the recommend rate, the figure has fluctuated to as high as 30 percent in recent days.

When asked for PAHOs assessment and recommendations, PAHOs Incident Manager for COVID-19 Dr Sylvain Aldighieri said it could be that more people contracting the virus are not presenting for testing; and as vaccinations increase more of the population become relaxed and are less likely to present for testing when they have been exposed.

Even though the vaccine rollout is going well people should continue to use the public health and social measures that we know work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including all its variants, Aldighieri said.

The government continues to encourage vaccination uptake.

As of the weekend, 104,380 people had been fully vaccinated more than 30 percent of the eligible population.

Vaccines are available for anyone aged 12 and over.

As it relates to vaccine supply in The Bahamas, PAHO Assistant Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa said PAHO continues to make every effort to increase access to vaccines of all its member states.

In the case of The Bahamas, we are working an expedited process with COVAX, so The Bahamas will receive another 57,300 doses in the first week of November, he said.

Second, we are working with the US government is CARTHA to expedite the donation of four million doses that the US government is donating to the Caribbean countries and The Bahamas will receive vaccines also through this initiative.

We are also offering to all the countries in the region to complement their vaccines through the direct purchasing process using PAHOs Revolving Fund.

PAHO has three agreements with three EAU producers via WHO offering vaccines to be delivered in the last quarter of this year.

It is crucial that every country in our region needs to have more access, he noted.

The latest samples sequenced in Panama and Brazil showed delta and the alpha variants were the predominant variants in The Bahamas.

The Ministry of Health reported yesterday that four women died from the coronavirus between September 22 and October 3.

The women, ages 42, 61, 67 and 88, were all from Grand Bahama and died. One death was previous under investigation.

According to the ministry, another three deaths were being investigated.

Meanwhile, another 60 coronavirus cases were confirmed on Wednesday.

Of the new infections, 48 were recorded on New Providence, six on Eleuthera, three on Grand Bahama, and one each on Exuma, Andros and Mayaguana.

Region

PAHO Director Dr Carissa Etienne said over the last month, COVID infections have declined throughout the region, but cases and deaths still remain high.

But she said national data doesnt tell us the whole story, and governments throughout the region need to keep a close eye on local trends as infections dynamics vary widely.

Across the Caribbean infections are going down overall, although Cuba and Bermuda continue to report high rates of new infections, and Barbados saw infections increase by nearly 75 percent over the last week.

Approximately 37 percent of Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated.

Seven countries have vaccinated 70 percent of the populations, the same number has yet to reach 20 percent, including Jamaica and Haiti The Bahamas neighbors to the south.

PAHO said it is seeking to close this gap, including increasing vaccine production in the region.

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PAHO: Population becoming more relaxed as vaccination increases, some infected not testing - EyeWitness News

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