As the Government announced plans this week to pursue what it described as the world’s first fully onchain national economy — in partnership with Coinbase and Circle — some economists are cautious about how much benefit these policies will deliver to the local economy in the near term, and what they have delivered already.

Peter Everson, a businessman and former president of the Chamber of Commerce, who has long endorsed economic polices focused on debt repayment and education, said his views have not changed. He said the limited impact of Bermuda’s digital asset regime since its launch in 2018 was not surprising, given both the island’s small size and the early stage of many real-world blockchain uses.

“The number of active and successful applications is relatively small,” Mr Everson said. “So I am not surprised that they have not washed up on our shores because we are such a tiny market.”

Mr Everson also questioned whether education on blockchain or digital finance should be a priority now, arguing that more basic financial literacy is more pressing.

“Our younger people desperately need education on general personal finance,” he said. “Once they have received that, they are likely to be able to pick up on the other stuff — but that is very much an optional extra rather than a must-have.”

Local banks and insurers contacted by The Royal Gazette declined to comment or did not respond by press time. Marico Thomas, the Chamber of Commerce president, was travelling and could not be reached.

Off-island policy experts have stressed that the initiative will come in phases. Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs and a former senior adviser to the US Treasury Department, said that it is normal for the effects of onchain pilots not to be felt on the ground immediately.

“From experience, early pilots tend to demonstrate value first within government and institutional settings, with broader benefits emerging as education, onboarding and merchant participation expand,” he said.

“Bermuda’s phased and voluntary approach reflects an appreciation for trust, optionality, and thoughtful adoption over time,” Mr Redbord told The Royal Gazette. He added that the goal is to modernise the financial infrastructure already there, by simplifying payments and improving settlement speed.

Industry figures have framed it as a shift away from experimentation towards execution, with a focus on governance and long-term infrastructure rather than anything immediate.

In public commentary after the announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Tom Duff-Gordon, a vice-president at Coinbase, said Bermuda wants to embed regulated digital payments into everyday economic activity. He said the island could see lower-cost payments using stablecoins, broader access to global finance and clearer regulatory rules, describing the initiative as “moving from theory to execution”.

The Government has repeatedly sought to distance itself from the speculative “crypto” era and embrace what it now describes as a broader digital-finance strategy.

In a November earnings call, Michael Collins, the chairman and chief executive of Butterfield Bank, said of digital assets: “I think we describe ourselves as a slow follower, watching closely.”

He added: “We’re not getting a lot of pressure from clients in terms of custody for digital assets. Stablecoin is obviously something we’re watching closely. I think the approach we would take is to piggyback off our correspondent banks.”