Bermuda Teams Up With Circle and Coinbase on Fully Onchain Economy

Bermuda established a tiered regulatory framework for digital assets under the Digital Asset Business Act in 2018, with Circle and Coinbase among its early licensees. Local merchants typically pay card fees of 3% to 5% per transaction, while actual costs in some categories can reach as high as 10%. Introducing USDC and tokenized tools into government, banking and insurance is therefore seen as a national experiment aimed at reducing friction in cross-border payments.

On January 19, 2026, Bermuda’s government announced in Davos that it would work with Circle and Coinbase to build the world’s first fully onchain national economy. On May 12, the Stellar Development Foundation took on the migration of key payment and financial services to the blockchain. More than $62,000 in digital assets was distributed during a May 11–14 forum, 30 merchants received training and USDC spending exceeded $20,000. The government also plans legislation allowing it to accept stablecoins for payments and manage public assets with them.