The Government of Bermuda Announces Plans to be the World’s First Fully Onchain National Economy with Support from Circle and Coinbase

Davos, Switzerland: Today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, the Government of Bermuda announced their plans to transform Bermuda into the world's first fully onchain national economy with support from Circle and Coinbase.

Circle and Coinbase intend to provide their digital asset infrastructure and enterprise tools to the Government of Bermuda, local banks, insurers, small and medium-sized businesses, and consumers. The companies also plan to support nationwide digital finance education, and technical onboarding.

An onchain economy means using digital assets as everyday financial infrastructure. For a country like Bermuda, a highly entrepreneurial economy with thousands of local businesses, traditional payment rails are expensive and restrictive. Being classified alongside Caribbean and other island jurisdictions, onshore payment processors and local fiat banking rails drive up fees and squeeze already thin merchant margins. Digital finance provides an opportunity for a new model.

With USDC, merchants can accept fast, low-cost, dollar-denominated payments. There are now multiple live examples in the Bermudian market, demonstrating how onchain payments allows individuals to transact locally, support economic activity, and meet compliance obligations in a modern, efficient way.

The announcement builds on Bermuda's leadership in digital asset regulation. In 2018, Bermuda became the first jurisdiction to introduce a comprehensive digital asset framework through the Digital Asset Business Act. Circle and Coinbase were among the first global firms licensed under the regime and have expanded alongside the island's growing digital finance ecosystem.

The continued partnership follows a major milestone at the Bermuda Digital Finance Forum 2025, where the three partners executed an airdrop of USDC, distributing 100 USDC to every attendee for use with newly onboarded local merchants. Since then, additional Bermudian businesses have begun accepting digital payments and local financial institutions have expanded their use of stablecoins and tokenized finance.

The Bermuda Digital Finance Forum 2026, taking place May 11-14, will expand these efforts with broader business participation, a larger consumer stimulus, and deeper engagement across the financial services sector.

Bermuda's approach is anchored in what The Hon. E. David Burt, JP, MP, Premier of Bermuda describes as a collaborative model between government, regulator, and industry designed to enable responsible innovation at scale.

"Bermuda has always believed that responsible innovation is best achieved through partnership between government, regulators, and industry," said Premier Burt. "With the support of Circle and Coinbase, two of the world's most trusted digital finance companies, we are accelerating our vision to enable digital finance at the national level. This initiative is about creating opportunity, lowering costs, and ensuring Bermudians benefit from the future of finance."

The transition to an onchain economy is expected, over time, to deliver tangible benefits for residents and businesses. Benefits include lower transaction costs and providing greater access to global finance through modern digital wallets, and infrastructure that keeps economic value circulating locally.

"Bermuda has been a global pioneer in digital asset regulation and continues to demonstrate what responsible blockchain innovation looks like at a national scale," said Circle Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Jeremy Allaire. "We are proud to deepen our engagement as Bermuda empowers people and businesses with USDC and onchain infrastructure."

"Coinbase has long believed that open financial systems can drive economic freedom," said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. "Bermuda's leadership shows what's possible when clear rules are paired with strong public-private collaboration. We are excited to support Bermuda's transition toward an onchain economy that empowers local businesses, consumers, and institutions."

Government agencies will begin piloting stablecoin-based payments, financial institutions integrating tokenization tools, and residents participating in nationwide digital literacy programs, laying the foundation for a more inclusive, competitive, and resilient national economy.

About the Government of Bermuda

The Government of Bermuda is a global leader in financial regulation, digital asset policy, and innovation. Through the Digital Asset Business Act (2018) and ongoing collaboration between the Government, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and industry stakeholders, Bermuda continues to build a resilient, forward-looking economy designed for the future of global finance.

About Circle

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world's leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through digital assets, payment applications, and programmable blockchain infrastructure. Circle's platform includes the world's largest stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet. Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation. Learn more at circle.com.

About Coinbase

Crypto creates economic freedom by ensuring that people can participate fairly in the economy, and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is on a mission to increase economic freedom for more than 1 billion people. We're updating the century-old financial system by providing a trusted platform that makes it easy for people and institutions to engage with crypto assets, including trading, staking, safekeeping, spending, and fast, free global transfers. We also provide critical infrastructure for onchain activity and support builders who share our vision that onchain is the new online. And together with the crypto community, we advocate for responsible rules to make the benefits of crypto available around the world.