Bermuda, the small island nation with major crypto ambitions
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Craig Swan’s eyes light up, and his smile widens when he speaks of Bermuda's ambitions to become the world’s first economy to go fully onchain, a move he is certain will create amazing new opportunities for the country's citizens.
Key facts
- In London, Swan, the CEO of Bermuda’s Money Authority (BMA), spoke of his tiny island nation’s huge plans
- Starting with the Department of Motor Vehicles, because most people have a car or licenses
- The government is betting that its regulatory framework, the Digital Asset Business Act (DABA), can achieve the same global footprint for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and decentralized finance
- To prove it, Swan said the BMA recently concluded a pilot program focused on embedding compliance directly inside smart contracts
Summary
Bermuda is working with Circle, Coinbase and Stellar to build what it hopes will be the world’s first fully onchain economy, including a sovereign Bermuda digital dollar. The Bermuda Monetary Authority has begun real-world testing by airdropping USDC to residents, enabling payments at a pop-up marketplace, and preparing to accept digital assets for government fees starting with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Regulators are updating laws on property, contracts and securities while piloting smart-contract-based compliance and an AI payments hub, aiming to make Bermuda a global center for tokenized assets and decentralized finance. In London, Swan, the CEO of Bermuda’s Money Authority (BMA), spoke of his tiny island nation’s huge plans.