Shiva Bissessar

With a background in Information Security, Shiva pioneered digital currency research and retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) implementation in the Caribbean. His work with blockchain began with his MSc thesis from University College London examining Bitcoin transaction flows in 2013. He later conducted socio economic research into the advent of digital currency in the Caribbean, as published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016. He served as Programme Manager and strategic advisor on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s retail CDBC pilot project, DCash, from 2019 to 2024 overseeing the entire execution of the programme of activities to develop, test, and deploy the solution. In 2023, he led a 9-month research project, funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), performing technical mapping of illicit virtual asset usage within 15 Caribbean states which included technical analysis via blockchain analytics and review of Virtual Asset (VA) and VASP legislation and regulation in beneficiary states. He currently serves on the National Risk Assessment working group on VA/VASP which was instrumental in getting virtual asset legislation passed in Trinidad and Tobago. Via his consultancy he offers ransomware prevention and deepfake detection AI enabled solutions. He advocates for attention to reducing online harms as faced by children.