The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ entry into the digital assets space has created at least 30 jobs, and pumped over $5m into the economy, by attracting new broker/dealers and cryptocurrency exchanges to this nation, a financial provider says

Anthony Stubbs, chief executive officer of IX Capital Group, told Tribune Business his firm is ready to add cryptocurrency to its portfolio and become a “full-fledged Fintech firm” offering multiple digital assets-related solutions.

“Cryptocurrencies are something we are looking into for the very near future, taking advantage of the fact that we are here in The Bahamas already,” he added. “The Bahamas is really a pioneer in the Fintech and digital asset and crypto asset space with the DARE (Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges) Act being rolled out. So we definitely want to be a part of that.

“This is really going to highlight the adaptability of The Bahamas to really just be able to shift with the tide of financial services, and we fit into this framework perfectly because Infinox (IX Capital’s parent company) already offers Fintech solutions, which is the CFD (Contract for Differences) trading solutions for our clients.

“Fintech firms have proven to be fast adapters to change, and mobile in their operations. As of January 2020, there are more than 12 online broker/dealers and more than two major crypto-exchanges, contributing more than $5m to the Bahamian economy. Thirty Bahamians are now directly employed by online broker/dealers and crypto-exchanges, jobs that didn’t exist years ago,” Mr Stubbs said.

“With the emergence of Fintech, The Bahamas is poised to recreate an environment of organic growth for financial services, while providing new opportunities for young professionals like myself to shift and evolve. The challenges was with the fact that crypto is a new wavelength of digital assets being something that’s unchartered because persons didn’t understand it, and they didn’t know what it was, and everything was just about bitcoin and they didn’t understand what it was.

“So I think the way you circumvent the challenge is to educate more. So that is why we take the initiative to invest in educating people in understanding what is a digital asset.”

CFDs make up the largest portion of IX Capital’s portfolio. “CFD’s can give you an inlet whereby you don’t have to come up with the outright cash; you can buy a CFD but for a fraction of the price, and we offer you leverage. You can take part in the gyration and movement of prices,” Mr Stubbs said.