Introduction to the Caribbean Blockchain Network
Platform for Blockchain enthusiasts and professionals with tailor-made content for the Caribbean region.
The Caribbean region is home to over 43 million inhabitants across 28 island nations. The region is characterized by its tropical weather, turquoise waters, passionate people and delicious food. Sounds like heaven doesn’t it? 🏝️
Yet even a place this beautiful is facing various challenges.
1 in 5 Caribbean inhabitants lives in poverty, economies are not diversified and rely heavily on tourism, oil, and other primary commodities. Also, the local banks are having a hard time complying with KYC & AML/CTF regulations causing them to lose their Correspondent Bank Relationship which allows them to make cross-border payments.
Many of these challenges could be solved with the right technology, but
there seems to be a knowledge gap when it comes to understanding and adopting new technologies like e.x. blockchain. This is attributed to many factors, one of which is the fact that the social and technological context in the Caribbean is much more different than most of the developed countries in which blockchain is currently developing.
For a large part, this is because of the lack of infrastructure, resources, or political will to update legacy systems. Another one is the fact that many Caribbean islands are isolated from the outside world and don’t experience, first hand, the technological developments that are happening outside of the Caribbean in for example the blockchain space. Adding to this the fact that blockchain is a relatively new technology with a steep learning curve, it becomes difficult to fully grasp the potential of blockchain technologies in the context of its socio-economic potential in the Caribbean.
The understanding of this situation is the driving force for starting this network. As firm believers of decentralization, we believe that the blockchain technology has the potential to greatly improve the efficiency and trust within systems leading to more collaboration and increased productivity.
The Caribbean Blockchain Network wants to educate about the potential of blockchain technology and create a Caribbean network focused around development and collaboration. The long-term vision of the network is to transform the Carribean region into a prosperous and interconnected environment that promotes human well-being through innovation and trust.
The CBN building blocks
In order to work towards this vision, we have created the CBN building blocks, a series of 5 interconnected goals, that serve as the foundation of the Network. The building blocks have a philosophical thought behind them, as just like a blockchain, each consecutive block must contain the correct data from the previous blocks in order to be valid. In practice, it comes down to not rushing things and working towards a long-term goal!
The first block is #Educate: Educate each individual within the network about the fundamentals and the social-economical potential that blockchain technology can bring.
How: Through the creation of educative content (interviews, articles, tutorials) we can contribute to constructing the bridge that will connect knowledge and understanding.
The second block is #Inform: Inform about relevant blockchain news and content so that the awareness about the technology increases and the developments can be contextualized for the Caribbean.
How: By sharing information in the form of news updates, case studies, and important updates.
The third block is #Connect: Connect like-minded nodes(individuals in the network) through the CBN platform (social media, website, events) and spark knowledge sharing, collaboration, and long-term relations.
The final two blocks of CBN are #Create and #Implement:
Once the foundation has been constructed and there are educated, informed and connected nodes within the Network the nodes will able to start developing Blockchain projects and content. The final step is implementing the value enhancing blockchains in the Caribbean.
What’s next!
We just finished co-organizing the Curacao Tech Meetups a series of tech events on Curaçao and are now working hard on the CBN website which will become the heart of the CBN platform. We are also working on guides about accepting and purchasing cryptocurrencies in the Caribbean region and are closing several partnerships.
We’re always upon for suggestions, collaborations, and new nodes.
Please reach out to info@caribbeanblockchain.net if this article sparked something inside of you. Teamwork makes the dream work! 🙌
Thanks for taking your time to read about the Caribbean Blockchain Network! We’re excited about all the development and awesome nodes inside of the network, every day new nodes from different island join and we’re already seeing the network creating positive value!
Mind giving us a jumpstart by leaving some Claps? 👏
We just created a new twitter account you can tweet us @caribbean_block or #cbn!
Masha danki! (Thank you in Papiamentu)
