A leading crypto lawyer has called Bermuda a “unicorn” – a rare jurisdiction that has tangible, useful digital assets legislation.

At the Bermuda Tech Summit 2022, Cal Evans, managing associate of Gresham International, classified global attitudes towards regulation as “zombies, Frankensteins and unicorns”.

In a panel called How do regulators promote resilience and innovation? Mr Evans said unicorns were places that “listen”.

“It is said tongue-in-cheek, because most politicians are more concerned with collecting votes than with industry,” he told The Royal Gazette.

Zombies are places that blindly follow old-tech legislation, while Frankensteins try to patch together whatever legislation they can get their hands on.

“Bermuda has a really good diverse legislative framework that works for start-ups and legacy companies,” Mr Evans said.

He said the different levels of regulatory licence in Bermuda, such as the sandbox licence starting at $1,000, fuelled growth. He also labelled Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a unicorn, but said that while they have a sandbox model, theirs does not really help companies grow.

But he was against a global standardised regulatory approach.

“For certain types of digital assets, standardisation will be needed, but for other types it won’t be,” he said.

He said other countries have tried to copy Bermuda’s model, not always with success.

“But what has worked for Bermuda, has worked well here,” he said.

During the panel, Carey Olsen partner, Steven Rees Davies, said that to have successful digital assets regulation you needed a government that understood technology and how it interrelated with regulation.

“You need a regulator that understands technology, and how to apply what is critical, and you need an industry willing to take on the standards,” he said. “Bermuda is lucky in that we do not have the same sort of distractions that the rest of the world does. We are able to focus on what is going on and introduce legislation quite quickly that is focused on a solution.”

Panel moderator Michelle Chivunga, founder and chief executive officer of Global Policy House, asked panellists to sum up their view of the future in two words.

Jeff Baron, chief compliance officer at Bittrex Global, said: “Risk management.”

“That is so boring,” Mr Baron said. “But when you get that piece right, you can innovate.”

Moad Fahmi, senior adviser, fintech, Bermuda Monetary Authority, answered: “Consumer protection.”

Mr Fahmi said changing consumer appetites were driving venture capitalists to expect more from digital asset companies.

“So I think this consumer protection is going to be more and more important in this space,” he said.

The Tech Summit 2022 continues tomorrow at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club. It is presented by the Bermuda Business Development Agency in partnership with the Government’s Economic Development Department and fintech industry association, NEXT Bermuda.

For more information see www.bda.bm/events/bermuda-tech-summit-2022.