Bermuda Moves Key Payments And Financial Services Onchain Onto Stellar Network

Bermuda and the Stellar Development Foundation announced that Bermuda will begin moving key payment and financial-services activity onchain onto the Stellar network, marking the first operational milestone since Bermuda announced at the World Economic Forum in January 2026 that it plans to become the world’s first fully onchain national economy.

“Bermuda will begin moving key payment and financial-services activity onchain onto the Stellar network.”

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The plan builds on Bermuda’s regulatory foundation under the Digital Asset Business Act of 2018, and it targets local merchants who currently pay 3–5% per transaction in card fees, with effective payment processing costs reaching as high as 10% in some categories.

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Under the rollout, Bermudian residents will be able to receive wages, pay local merchants, settle government fees, and hold, send, and receive digital assets, where available, through digital wallets on the Stellar network.

Government agencies expect to pilot stablecoin-based payments, while financial institutions will integrate tokenization tools as part of the transition.

The announcement also says assets may be used for government payment systems related to social service disbursements.

Premier E. David Burt, JP, MP, said Bermuda’s reliance on legacy payments infrastructure has left Bermudians paying high payment processing fees and that “The use of digital dollars can change that.”

Burt added that the Stellar network’s capacity to support public sector initiatives is what makes it possible to deliver the plan “responsibly and at the scale Bermuda requires.”

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Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, said “Stellar was purpose-built to streamline and seamlessly connect the global financial system,” and she described Bermuda as having “regulatory clarity, an aligned ecosystem, and a government willing to lead.”

Dixon also said the Stellar Development Foundation is “proud to work with Bermuda to help realize the vision of a fully onchain economy.”

The announcement frames the onchain shift as an effort to make digital assets everyday financial infrastructure for Bermudian citizens, merchants, and government transact.

The rollout is described as a foundation for pilots and integrations, with government agencies expecting to pilot stablecoin-based payments and financial institutions integrating tokenization tools.

“Government agencies expect to pilot stablecoin-based payments”

PR Newswire

The press release says residents can participate in nationwide digital literacy programs, and it positions the effort as laying “the foundation for a more inclusive, competitive, and resilient national economy.”

It also points to Stellar’s prior sovereign and institutional deployments, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ ENRA program, which in December 2025 delivered the world’s first nationwide onchain disbursement of universal basic income via USDM1.

Stellar is described as settling payments in seconds at fractions of a U.S. cent, pairing a permissionless network with asset controls institutions require.

The announcement further states that it contains forward-looking statements about plans to explore and pilot onchain payment and financial-services use cases, including possible use of digital assets or blockchain-based payment infrastructure for government payments and social-service disbursements.