Bermuda plans to move more payments onto Stellar so residents can use digital wallets for wages, merchant payments and some government fees, with stablecoins expected to play a central role.
The Stellar Development Foundation, the non-profit behind the Stellar blockchain, and the Government of Bermuda announced the plan in a Tuesday blog post. The move follows Bermuda's January pledge at the World Economic Forum to become what it calls the world's first fully on-chain national economy.
- Currently, local merchants in Bermuda pay about 3% to 5% per card transaction, while payment processing costs can reach as high as 10% in some categories, according to the blog post.
- The goal is to use Stellar-based wallets and stablecoins to keep more of that payment value inside the island's economy.
Premier E. David Burt
For residents, this means wages, local payments, government fees and transfers could eventually sit inside wallet-based services, where available. Government agencies also expect to pilot stablecoin-based payments, while financial institutions will be able to use tokenization tools.
- Bermuda has been preparing for digital-asset activity for years. In 2018, the island passed the Digital Asset Business Act, one of the earlier crypto regulatory frameworks.
- The Stellar announcement also follows Bermuda's January on-chain economy plan with Circle and Coinbase. That earlier plan said the two companies would support Bermuda with digital asset tools, education and onboarding.