Overview
- A partnership announced Tuesday between Bermuda’s government and the Stellar Development Foundation starts pilots for on-chain public payments.
- The pilots use USDC, a dollar-pegged digital token, with Circle providing the coin and Coinbase supporting the infrastructure.
- Residents are expected to receive wages, pay local merchants, and settle government fees through simple digital wallets on Stellar.
- Officials cite card fees of 3% to 5%, with some as high as 10%, and say blockchain rails could cut costs and keep more money circulating locally.
- Bermuda’s 2018 digital-asset law provides the regulatory base for the rollout, with banks set to test tokenization tools and nationwide digital-literacy programs planned.