Buying crypto in Nassau: banks, regulators and real routes

New Providence had 296,732 residents at the 2022 census, about three in every four Bahamians. It holds the head offices of every retail bank, both regulators that matter for crypto and the addresses of most firms on the Securities Commission’s register. What it does not have is anywhere to hand over cash and walk out with Bitcoin. Here is what is really on the ground, and the routes that work.

Banking in Nassau: the densest network in the country

Bank branches nationally fell from 86 in 2014 to 61 in 2021, the Central Bank Governor has said; New Providence lost the least, going from 48 to 38. Your bank is your on-ramp: it issues the card for small buys and sends the wire for large ones.

CIBC Caribbean lists six New Providence branches (Shirley Street, Carmichael, Harbour Bay, JFK, Marathon Mall and Sandyport) plus remote tellers at the Bay Street Straw Market, Goodman’s Bay, Solomon’s at Old Fort Bay and a multi-currency machine at Lynden Pindling International Airport. Paradise Island has only a CIBC remote teller at Marina Village and a Commonwealth ATM at Atlantis Coral Towers. Commonwealth’s eight Nassau branches include Cable Beach and East Bay Street. Scotiabank’s main branch is at Rawson Square, and its Paradise Island branch was folded into New Providence from late 2020.

Two local rules sit on top. Converting Bahamian dollars into foreign currency carries 1.5% stamp dutyStamp duty (FX) A 1.5% government tax on converting Bahamian dollars into foreign currency, charged by your bank. Glossary, and because the Central BankCBOB The Central Bank of The Bahamas. It issues the Bahamian dollar and Sand Dollar, supervises banks and runs exchange control. Glossary treats crypto as a foreign asset, residents’ purchases fall under exchange controlExchange control Central Bank rules on residents moving Bahamian dollars into foreign currency or foreign assets. Crypto is treated as a foreign asset. Glossary. Our guide to Bahamian banks and crypto explains what to tell your branch, and the card guide covers declined payments.

The regulators are on your doorstep

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCBSCB The Securities Commission of The Bahamas, the regulator that registers and supervises crypto businesses under the DARE Act. Glossary) works from 31A East Bay Street and registers crypto businesses under the DARE ActDARE Act The Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act 2024, the Bahamian law that requires crypto businesses operating in or from The Bahamas to register with the Securities Commission. Glossary 2024. Its supervision department (242-397-4100, sud@scb.gov.bs) will confirm whether a company is registered, the quickest scam check available to anyone in Nassau. The Central Bank, which runs exchange control and issues the Sand Dollar, is also in Nassau (P.O. Box N-4868, 242-302-2600).

Where crypto actually lives in Nassau

The SCB register as at 30 September 2026 lists 35 digital asset businesses, nearly all with Nassau addresses clustered in Sandyport, Lyford Cay and along West Bay Street. Yet at the end of 2025 registrants served more than 2.15 million clients, of whom only 1,376 lived in The Bahamas. These firms are mostly run from Nassau for clients abroad.

Lyford Cay’s custodians suit six-figure OTCOTC (over the counter) A private deal for large amounts, usually $50,000 or more, priced by a desk rather than on the public order book so the trade does not move the market. Glossary trades (see our OTC guide); the full list is on our registered companies page.

Crypto Isle, in the former Luciano’s of Chicago restaurant on East Bay Street, opened in December 2021 as the country’s first crypto coworking space. It has hosted masterclasses, an SCB town hall on the DARE changes in 2023 and, in January 2026, the Oasis Onchain summit. Current hours are unconfirmed (its site was down in October 2026). See our events page.

The FTX legacy, from Albany to Old Fort Bay

FTX moved its headquarters to The Bahamas in September 2021 and in January 2022 announced a US$60 million campus for about 1,000 people on Nassau’s north side. It broke ground in April, but construction never started. Staff worked from an office park near Albany and executives lived inside the Albany gated community. Filings reported by Reuters showed FTX Property Holdings buying 15 properties worth about US$100 million, including a US$30 million Albany penthouse, plus a beach-access home in Old Fort Bay.

Baha Mar on Cable Beach hosted the FTX and SALT Crypto Bahamas conference in April 2022. On 10 November 2022 the SCB froze FTX Digital Markets’ assets, and two days later moved digital assets then worth over US$3.5 billion into Commission-controlled wallets. The collapse shaped the DARE Act 2024’s custody rules. Payouts: see FTX in The Bahamas.

Vanished Bitcoin ATMs, and the ATMs that are not crypto

Nassau is the only place that ever had crypto ATMs. Archived Coin ATM Radar pages list four in 2021, at Harbour Bay on East Bay Street, Old Fort Bay Town Centre, Kruger Plastics and the Cabbage Beach Mini Mart on Paradise Island. Today the listing shows none; the full history is on our Bitcoin ATM page.

The new two-way machines around New Providence belong to OMNi and swap cash for Sand DollarSand Dollar The Central Bank’s digital version of the Bahamian dollar, launched in October 2020. It is not a cryptocurrency and cannot be swapped for crypto directly. Glossary, the Central Bank’s digital Bahamian dollar. They cannot dispense Bitcoin. Nassau’s SunCash and Cash N’ Go hold SCB custody registrations only and sell no crypto. The indirect Sand Dollar route is in our Sand Dollar and crypto guide.

A step plan for Nassau residents

1. 01

   Check your card fee

   CIBC, Fidelity and Scotiabank list no foreign debit-card charge; RBC lists 2.50%.

2. 02

   Open and verify an account

   Upload ID and a selfie for the KYC check.

3. 03

   Buy a small amount first

   Try B$20 to B$100 to see the provider fee, any bank fee and the 1.5% stamp duty on your statement.

4. 04

   Wire for larger amounts

   From about B$2,000 a flat SWIFT fee usually beats a card percentage. Ask your branch about exchange control first.

5. 05

   Move savings to your own wallet

   Keep long-term coins in self-custody, with the seed phrase stored away from the house in hurricane season.

6. 06

   Plan the way back to B$

   Sell and wire US dollars back to your Nassau account; see the cash-out guide.

Where to go next

Freeport How Freeport and Lucaya residents buy and sell crypto: banks in the free-trade zone, card and wi… Read guide Banks & exchange control Wire fees, card surcharges and the 1.5% stamp duty, bank by bank. Read guide FTX in The Bahamas Timeline, court decisions and creditor distribution status. Read guide OTC desks Block trades, private banks and SCB-registered custodians in Nassau. Read guide