Bermuda Makes History: First Nation to Run Entire Economy On-Chain with Coinbase & Circle
Forget pilot programs—Bermuda just went all-in. The island nation is launching a full-scale, real-time economic ledger powered by blockchain, with Coinbase and Circle providing the infrastructure. This isn't a sandbox; it's a complete rebuild of a national financial system.
The On-Chain Engine Room
The partnership puts established crypto giants at the core of sovereign operations. Coinbase's institutional-grade platform will handle the rails, while Circle's USDC offers the stable digital dollar for everything from tax payments to treasury management. It bypasses legacy banking corridors entirely.
A New Blueprint for Sovereignty
The move cuts through decades of financial bureaucracy. Every transaction—government contracts, corporate registrations, import duties—gets logged immutably on a public ledger. Transparency becomes the default, not an audit afterthought. For a jurisdiction known as a financial hub, it's a stark pivot from opaque offshore services to a glass-box economy.
The Ripple Effect
Watch other small, agile nations follow. The model offers a tantalizing promise: reduced friction, instant settlement, and a potential magnet for digital asset businesses seeking regulatory clarity. Of course, it also turns the national balance sheet into a real-time dashboard—no more waiting for quarterly GDP revisions, just watch the blockchain ticker.
Bermuda's gamble reframes the ultimate question for traditional finance: if a country can run on-chain, what's your bank's excuse? The old guard will call it reckless; the new wave will see it as inevitable. One thing's certain—the experiment is live, and the entire sector is watching the ledger.
Past airdrops and forums helped build the new foundation for Bermuda
Last year at the Bermuda Digital Finance Forum, the government, Circle, and Coinbase dropped 100 USDC to every attendee. The money was usable at new local merchants that had just integrated stablecoin payments. More businesses started accepting digital dollars. Banks and insurers joined in. Usage took off.
Premier David Burt said the whole thing is built on collaboration between the government, regulators, and companies. “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.”
Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of Circle, said they’re expanding the partnership as Bermuda shifts its economy to digital rails. “We are proud to deepen our engagement as Bermuda empowers people and businesses with USDC and onchain infrastructure.”
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said the country’s approach works because it combines clear rules with strong public-private coordination. “Bermuda’s leadership shows what’s possible when clear rules are paired with strong public-private collaboration.”
At the SmartCon conference in December, Burt said bigger countries could learn from Bermuda, not because of speed, but because of structure. “It’s important that you give the private sector the tools, the space, the ability to innovate,” he said.
Back in 2019, Burt told Forbes the same thing. Regulation works when it gives clarity, not when it tries to micromanage. Markets can be messy. But they grow when they have space.
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