Cabinet has approved a framework to allow the Government of Bermuda to accept and invest in digital assets, within a clear regulatory structure.

The announcement was made by David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, during Consensus 2026 in Miami. He was participating in a “fireside chat” with Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, the online platform for buying, selling, transferring and storing cryptocurrency.

Mr Burt also revealed that the Government is modernising the existing Fintech Development Fund so it can receive digital asset contributions from industry, alongside Government support, to help grow Bermuda’s on-chain economy and strengthen the local digital finance ecosystem.

The Premier also spread the word on his social media channel’s, stating: “The goal is to ensure that Bermudians are not just spectators in the future of digital finance, but owners, builders and active participants.”

He was promoting the island at the conference where 20,000 senior leaders from crypto, finance, tech and policy huddled for three days of dealmaking, demonstrations and decision-making that will determine the next era of the global economy.

This comes as digital payments are now becoming foundational to economic activity, especially in Asia, where digital payments have moved firmly into the mainstream.

Mr Burt, who returned to the island last night, is back just in time for the Bermuda Digital Finance Forum 2026, which begins on Tuesday.

The Premier believes more Bermudians recognise the emerging world of digital finance but more must be done to educate those who are not yet on board.

A positive sign is that after a concentrated effort of recruitment, many small businesses have registered for next week’s Digital Finance Forum.

He said more should do so to learn about a coming economy that will benefit them through the erosion of a longstanding expense structure.

Mr Burt said: “There’s work still to be done when we look at the various things that need to happen. When you are talking about small businesses getting involved; the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation worked along with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy and Labour, onboarding small business vendors.

“They’re looking forward to next week. We’ve put it out to the community about the Digital Finance Forum, which I really want people to attend.

“They’ve had some 600 sign-ups. We’re going to be airdropping digital assets so that people can learn and understand these particular tools. We’ve signed up lots of small businesses, literally having to go door-to-door in places to say this is what we’re doing. Come find out.”

He said small businesses who are paying 4 per cent or 5 per cent in transactional fees can learn how the new system will reduce their frictional costs.

As cash is used even less, digital payments, he said, will become ubiquitous. There is already global evidence this is happening, although the trend is expected to accelerate.

He said: “Young children packing groceries who want to get tips, can have QR Codes around their neck. People can just scan their QR code and pay them a dollar or two dollars, money they can have at the end of the day in a digital wallet.

“They can spend that money or even save and invest that money in products that were not able to be accessed very easily at such a small scale. That’s the promise of digital finance.”