Blockchain technology company Shyft has pledged to invest up to $10 million in Bermuda over a three-year period, creating new jobs, helping to re-skill workers and investing in local businesses, education and infrastructure.

Those are some of the highlights of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the company and the Bermuda Government in New York City.

The company has also signed a separate MOU with Bermuda-headquartered Trunomi, which aims to leverage Shyft’s blockchain technology with its expertise in consumer consent frameworks to support Bermuda in the implementation of an electronic ID framework.

The memorandum with the Government was signed by David Burt and Joseph Weinberg, chairman of Shyft.

Mr Weinberg said: “Shyft has an ambitious objective of building a global digital identity ecosystem that gives all citizens the opportunity to participate. We have a goal of leveraging new technology to make positive and inclusive change. We have found a similar intent and aspiration with the Government of Bermuda.”

In a statement, Shyft said it was “thrilled to support Bermuda’s vision of leading the world in digital asset regulation by leveraging Shyft’s expertise in know-your-customer, anti-money laundering and blockchain based identity verification.”

Other highlights of the memorandum include a pledge that Shyft will collaborate with the Government and all necessary oversight agencies in the development and improvement of a robust legal and regulatory framework. It will also support training of Bermudians in blockchain technology and software development.

The Premier said: “The Government of Bermuda has decided to lead the way and build interoperability into the government legislation, in essence, approach regulatory frameworks with exportability in mind. This is our Bermuda jurisdiction as a service, the high level of exportability ‘stack’ that includes technology, regulation, process and protocol that we have built with assistance and commitment of modern companies like Shyft with expertise in handling KYC and AML compliance. As a result, the country is able to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and attract global interest.”

Mr Burt added: “We’re leading the world in digital assets regulation, there’s no other country that provides comparable certainty and progressive regulatory environment.”

Regarding the MOU with Trunomi, Bruce Silcoff, chief executive officer of Shyft International, said: “I’m proud to announce that as a result of this partnership and its strong synergies, entrepreneurs, enterprises, and blockchain companies all over the world will be able to leverage Shyft and Trunomi technologies to launch new products and services in Bermuda and globally,”

Shyft states that it is building the world’s first modern, secure, multi-stakeholder blockchain-based digital identity solution that enables KYC/AML attested data transfers.

• Shyft has a website at www.shyft.network, while Trunomi can be found at www.trunomi.com. More information about Bermuda’s fintech strategy can be accessed at https://fintech.bm