{"id":431549,"date":"2026-01-26T22:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/431549\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T22:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:10:15","slug":"burt-digital-finance-is-where-insurance-was-40-years-ago-the-royal-gazette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/431549\/","title":{"rendered":"Burt: digital finance is where insurance was 40 years ago – The Royal Gazette"},"content":{"rendered":"

Created: Jan 26, 2026 07:53 AM (Updated: Jan 26, 2026 03:59 PM)<\/p>\n

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David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, joins the Filecoin Foundation in Davos to announce Bermuda\u2019s initiative to upload publicly available government data sets to the Filecoin network (Photograph courtesy of David Burt\/X)<\/p>\n

David Burt has compared Bermuda\u2019s fledgeling digital asset industry to the insurance sector in its infancy, arguing that modest current numbers mask long\u2011term potential.<\/p>\n

Government statistics show that in 2024, Digital Asset Business Act\u2011licensed firms employed 22 people, 11 of them Bermudian, and that related fee revenue of $1.6 million accounted for about 1.4 per cent of Bermuda Monetary Authority revenue. Critics say that is a small return for a sector that has dominated political and promotional attention.<\/p>\n

Mr Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, sees it differently. In an interview with The Royal Gazette from the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, he said digital finance is \u201cgoing to be the future\u201d and that Bermuda has \u201can opportunity to be there on the ground floor\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can quote the statistics of what insurance represented to Bermuda\u2019s economy 40 years ago, and make those comparisons if we wish, but our job as government is not just to focus on the here and now. It is also to think about the future,\u201d he said. Other jurisdictions, he added, are \u201ctrying to play catch-up to us\u201d.<\/p>\n

At Davos this week, he underlined that insurance remains a core pillar. He attended an insurance leaders lunch with chief executives and took part in a session on how to \u201ccontinue to innovate in the sector\u201d, where he said he was \u201cable to demonstrate what Bermuda is doing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bermuda, he argued, needs to \u201cbe in the room with these insurance leaders\u201d and foster relationships to address any challenges they face on the island.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday at the @wef<\/a>, I addressed a simple question: “How do we scale digital governance without losing trust and accountability?”
This guided yesterday’s engagements: I spoke about the responsible growth of digital finance with @brian_armstrong<\/a>, Co-Founder and CEO of\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/2FR66IWd3y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Premier David Burt (@BermudaPremier) January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier last week, the Premier announced plans to transform Bermuda into the world\u2019s first \u201cfully onchain\u201d national economy<\/a>, expanding a partnership with leading companies Coinbase and Circle to embed digital asset infrastructure across government, business and financial services.<\/p>\n

On digital assets, he cited growing international recognition. He said he had a long conversation with Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian finance minister, who had just tabled legislation and \u201cwas completely unaware of the work that Bermuda was doing inside the digital asset space\u201d but invited Bermudian officials to collaborate and \u201cshare the work of which we are doing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Burt also flagged talks with the Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Alliance and Microsoft Elevate on \u201cskilling and upskilling the economy\u201d, including a push to help government staff make better use of existing Microsoft 365 tools to upscale the workforce.<\/p>\n

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Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of Coinbase, left, speaks at a session with David Burt (Photograph courtesy of David Burt\/X)<\/p>\n

In posts on social media, the Premier described broader discussions in Davos about how governments can scale digital systems while maintaining public trust and accountability. Mr Burt said he discussed the responsible growth of digital finance with Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of Coinbase, and took part in a session with Wamkele Mene, the secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area.<\/p>\n

Additionally, he announced a new collaboration with the Filecoin Foundation and the Internet Archive<\/a> to create a secure, long-term digital preservation system for Bermuda\u2019s public records.<\/p>\n

He also spoke at a Global Blockchain Business Council event on the future of financial infrastructure, where he outlined Bermuda\u2019s approach to building regulated digital systems, and participated in another WEF session on best practices in digital governance.<\/p>\n

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