The British Virgin Islands has entered into a partnership with Lifelabs.io, a blockchain firm, to make available alternative crypto focused payments infrastructure for residents across its network of islands. This was made known via a BVI government press release on April 18.
BVI and Lifelabs.io New Found Partnership
Through this partnership, the country plans to leverage the use of cryptos to ensure the reliability and speedy transfer of aids during emergencies.
Furthermore, Lifelabs’ blockchain Platform will be implemented as a Service (PaaS), which reportedly reduces transaction fees by over 50%. It also does well to save time compared to traditional Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payments.
The mobile app— LifeWallet, which supports ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), ERC20-compliant tokens and Lifelabs’ native token, life will be used by the residents to carry out payment
The importance of implementing a blockchain payments infrastructure — which supports peer-to-peer and local commercial transactions has been underscored by the government and the crypto firm. They both noted that this move will ensure that access to essential goods and services in the event of a humanitarian crisis will not be disrupted.
The British Virgin Islands suffered a natural disaster back in 2017— hurricane Irma. The disaster led to damages estimated to be around $3 billion — three times its estimated GDP of $1 billion.
This event makes the partnership important and crucial to the safety of the country. Also, a crypto charity platform, BVI/Life Rapid Response Cash Fund, which will aim to foster transparency and efficiency for donations, ensuring that funds actually reach those in need has been launched.
According to the premier (head of government) and Minister of Finance of the BVI, Andrew Fahie, “blockchain-powered financial innovation comes at a pivotal time for our people and our economy, while the memory of recent natural disasters remains fresh in our minds and hearts, and the pressure for increased economic efficiency keeps mounting.”