Bermuda aims to set an example of how to move crypto into day-to-day trading without breaking the financial system, Premier David Burt said on stage at Consensus Miami 2026 on Wednesday.
Burt said the tiny Atlantic island is expanding its “onchain economy” initiative, a push to get stablecoins into the hands of residents, merchants and local businesses. The project was first announced in January at the World Economic Forum with stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) and exchange Coinbase (COIN).
The government is planning another airdrop of the USDC stablecoin this year, linked to next week’s Bermuda Digital Finance Forum 2026, while also deploying merchants to accept digital payments. Participants will receive stablecoins through wallets and can spend them at local vendors, Burt said.
“If you’re a vendor and you’re accepting digital assets, but you don’t have a way to use and use those digital assets in your economy, that’s a problem,” Burt said.
The broader goal for Bermuda is to build payments infrastructure outside of traditional card networks and bank rails, he said, arguing that small businesses face high transaction fees and limited access to financial apps common in larger markets.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who joined Burt on stage, said Bermuda’s approach stands out because regulators and private firms are building together rather than working separately.
“The most interesting thing about the Bermuda example is that it’s a parallel process,” Grewal said. “Public services can be accessed using payment stablecoins while bringing merchants and businesses into the system at the same time.”
Bermuda, Burt said, has spent years building a digital asset framework through its Digital Asset Business Act. He described the island’s regulatory style as iterative and industry-focused, with the Bermuda Monetary Authority working directly with firms on issues such as betting, lending and DeFi oversight.
“You can’t regulate mistakes,” Burt said. “But you can put the things in place that allow responsible innovation to happen.”
Grewal also contrasted Bermuda’s approach with the regulatory climate crypto companies have faced in recent years under former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler. That has changed for the better under the Trump administration, he argued.
“It’s a new day here in the United States,” Grewal said, pointing to what he described as a more constructive tone from agencies under SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig.
“We still have challenges, to be clear, but it’s a very different dynamic,” he said.
