Denis Pitcher, FinTech Advisor to Bermuda with Matt Bird at World Economic Forum (DAVOS)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Developed comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets
• Government certifications being developed working with consent, data protection & cyber security
• Digital Identity Insurance Act reduces compliance costs & opens doors for smaller businesses

(ESG News) – Less than 6 months after the 2018 World Economic Forum, Bermuda had so much interest in its cryptocurrency work that it created a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets.

“That kind of set the foundation,” Denis Pitcher, Bermuda’s FinTech advisor, told Matt Bird, Host of the Traders Network Show, at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Now what we’re looking to do is set that next level. So our next idea that we want to get people to work with us on is a digital identity issuances act or platform.”

Such a platform would allow issuers of identity and attesters of identity to be certified by the government. It would be a “comprehensive regulatory framework that works with consent and data protection and cyber security so that we can turn around and say to companies that come to the island, if you’ve worked with a validated entity you can perhaps get a token that represents your identity and have it valid across any digital asset business on the island,” Pitcher said.

That framework would remove barriers of entry in the crypto space, he continued.

“The more we can reduce those costs and make it easier, the more we can grow, and the better it is going to be for Bermuda.”

(Written by Andrew Waite; Editing and revisions by Nicole Liddy)