Bermuda was put on the path to digital finance when David Burt was told in 2017 that blockchain would destroy industries, including insurance and accountancy. He had just become the Premier.

Recounting his experience to hundreds gathered this week for the Bermuda Digital Finance Forum, he said if true, it would have posed a threat to Bermuda’s entire economy. But he was also told repeatedly that there was an opportunity.

He said: “We actually went into this purely from a defensive perspective.”

His government’s aim, he said, was to make sure that international companies were able to innovate on island, grow and stay here.

“That is what started our journey in 2017. We put together a task force. We started getting educated, travelling and learning.”

It led to legislation, and work by the Bermuda Monetary Authority to supervise and regulate.

Mr Burt was on the forum stage with Raja Chakravorti, chief business officer, Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit established to address the inequities in financial systems.

They jointly announced that Bermuda will begin moving key payment and financial-services activity onchain on to the Stellar network.

A statement from Stellar said: “Local merchants pay 3 to 5 per cent per transaction in card fees, with effective payment processing costs reaching as high as 10 per cent in some categories.

“The use of digital assets and infrastructure is designed to keep more of that value on-island.

“Bermudian residents will be able to receive wages, pay local merchants, settle government fees, as well as hold, send, and receive digital assets, where available — all through digital wallets on the Stellar network.

“Stellar also has one of the world’s largest cash on and off-ramp networks for digital assets, bringing the power and accessibility of the network to the people of Bermuda.”

As previously reported, Mr Chakravorti told the forum that Bermuda, as the world’s first fully onchain national economy, would make Stellar its network of choice.

Stellar said government agencies expect to pilot stablecoin-based payments, financial institutions will be able to integrate tokenisation tools, and residents can participate in island-wide digital literacy programmes, laying the foundation for a more inclusive, competitive and resilient national economy.

Assets may also be used for government payment systems related to social service disbursements.

Mr Burt is quoted in the statement: “The lack of mobile money applications and reliance on legacy payments infrastructure has left Bermudians paying high payment processing fees and hindered additional economic growth opportunities.

“The use of digital dollars can change that, and the Stellar network’s capacity to support public sector initiatives are what make it possible to deliver this responsibly and at the scale Bermuda requires.”

The statement continued: “Stellar is the only blockchain purpose-built for regulated financial services.

“Public, configurable, and global by design, Stellar pairs a permissionless network with the asset controls institutions require — settling payments in seconds at fractions of a US cent.

“The network has supported sovereign and institutional deployments globally, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ ENRA programme, which in December 2025 delivered the world's first nationwide onchain disbursement of universal basic income via USDM1.”

Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, commented: “Bermuda has assembled what most jurisdictions cannot: regulatory clarity, an aligned ecosystem, and a government willing to lead.

“The Stellar Development Foundation is proud to work with Bermuda to help realise the vision of a fully onchain economy.”