Bitt, which purports to be the Caribbean's first Bitcoin and digital exchange company and is based in Barbados, will be opening in Trinidad and Tobago with the approval of the Central Bank. The official launch date is 30th March, according to www.bitcoin-domain.com.

A year ago, the regulator was warning everybody that the use of Bitcoin required its approval, which has now obviously been given, and that the concept of virtual currency was "somewhat addressed under the framework established for electronic money by the Financial Institutions Act 2008."

The regulator, in its Payments Quarterly Bulletin of December 2013, said: "The Act treats with the issuance of virtual currency as stored value, issued on receipt of funds and accepted as payment by persons other than the issuer. This activity is defined within the context of 'business of a financial nature' and requires the approval of the central bank."

At that time the central bank was issuing warnings about Bitcoin. One said: "Potential users of this product must be aware of the risks involved in investing in virtual currencies as regulators seek to establish appropriate frameworks to ensure the continued safe operation of the payments system and the smooth conduct of monetary policy."

Bitt is a Caribbean digital asset exchange whose main business is to provide access to crypto-currencies in emerging markets, although it is at pains to point out that it serves the world market as well. It is run by an 8-man team that includes Barry Gale QC. There are now well over 600 virtual currencies in the world, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Namecoin, NovaCoin, Peercoin, Devcoin, Terracoin and Ripple.