Bermuda has announced plans to be the world’s first “fully onchain” national economy, expanding a partnership with leading companies Coinbase and Circle to embed digital asset infrastructure across government, business and financial services.

The announcement came at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the Government said it intends to use digital assets as everyday financial infrastructure.

How this will look in practice is not fully clear, nor is its timeline. However, government agencies are expected to start rolling out stablecoin-based payments, while banks and insurers integrate tokenisation tools.

Residents, meanwhile, will be offered nationwide digital finance literacy programmes so they can begin learning how to integrate stablecoins into their everyday lives if they choose.

Officials said the goal is to keep the economy inclusive and competitive while keeping economic value circulating locally.

Government officials stressed the partnership is voluntary. Residents and businesses will not have to adopt onchain tools.

The initiative builds on Bermuda’s Digital Asset Business Act, introduced in 2018, and follows pilot programmes launched at the Bermuda Digital Finance Forum in 2025, where residents were given digital wallets full of stablecoins to spend at various merchants and get a taste of how such an economy might look.

More details are expected to be unveiled at the 2026 forum, scheduled for May 11 to 14.

David Burt said Bermuda’s approach was grounded in close co-operation between policymakers, regulators and industry.

“Bermuda has always believed that responsible innovation is best achieved through partnership between government, regulators and industry,” said Mr Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance. “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.”

The Government said traditional payment rails are costly and restrictive for small island economies, often driving up fees for local merchants.

Stablecoins like Circle’s USDC allow fast, low-cost, transactions pegged to the US dollar. If Bermuda builds a regulated, trusted digital payments layer, they said, global platforms may find it easier to do business on the island.

Jeremy Allaire, Circle cofounder and chief executive, said the company viewed Bermuda as a global test case for regulated digital finance.

“Bermuda has been a global pioneer in digital asset regulation and continues to demonstrate what responsible blockchain innovation looks like at a national scale,” he said.

Brian Armstrong, chief executive of Coinbase, said the island’s regulatory clarity set it apart.

“Bermuda’s leadership shows what is possible when clear rules are paired with strong public-private collaboration,” he said.