Denis Pitcher, chief fintech advisor to the Premier of Bermuda, is discussing his government’s efforts to facilitate blockchain adoption and the use of cryptocurrency to enable greater financial inclusion for the island country’s 60,000 residents.
Currently, people in Bermuda are unable to access mainstream payment apps such as PayPal, Revolut and Square’s Cash App.
The advisor tells CoinDesk he wants to develop a system that Bermuda’s residents can use to transact in digital currency, effectively building an economic bridge to leading world economies.
In October of 2019, the government started accepting cryptocurrency as payment for local taxes, allowing residents to pay for government services using USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin developed through a partnership by Circle and Coinbase.
“By allowing the government to accept it, it provides an opportunity for merchants to start saying, ‘Well, I can look at accepting digital dollars.’ So taxi operators, tourism operators, commercial businesses have a place to actually spend, which means that you’re not going to have to fall back to the traditional financial system.”
An honour to join @BermudaPremier on stage for the Canadian tech summit in Bermuda! Great opportunity for ??blockchain companies to forge relationships in Bermuda. We have much to learn from each other. pic.twitter.com/ehqAjn9cHE
— Khawar Nasim (@KNasimON) January 29, 2020
Bermuda is also striving to support blockchain entrepreneurs as it builds out a full crypto ecosystem.
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