In a statement to the House of Assembly, the Bermuda Ministry of Finance said Cabinet has approved policy proposals to update Bermuda’s digital finance framework. The package would modernise the FinTech Development Fund, clarify the Government’s authority to accept stablecoins and other approved digital payments for services, fees and obligations, and amend the Public Funds Act so approved financial instruments can be held and managed in digital form under existing public finance controls. It would also confirm the Accountant General’s role in receiving, managing, reconciling and auditing those payments and assets, while Financial Instructions would be updated where needed so digital payments and digital financial instruments are subject to the same safeguards as existing payment and investment arrangements. The fund, established in 2018, would be updated to support Bermuda’s on-chain economy initiative, education, entrepreneurship and responsible digital finance development, with governance and reporting requirements and at least 50 percent of disbursements reserved for projects involving companies with majority Bermudian ownership. The ministry linked the legislative package to outcomes from the Bermuda Digital Finance Forum, which drew more than 1,000 registrations and included announcements on a planned Digital Bermuda Dollar on the Stellar network, Bermuda Monetary Authority approvals and licences for Bitcoin Suisse International, Plume and STS Digital, and a Payward and Franklin Templeton partnership to expand tokenised financial products for institutional investors.

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