Crypto & Digital Assets · Bermuda
Is crypto legal in Bermuda? Rules & regulation (2026)
Bermuda shaded by its crypto & digital assets status
Crypto is regulated in Bermuda, primarily under Digital Asset Business Act 2018 (DABA) and Digital Asset Issuance Act 2020 (DAIA), supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA); supplemented by the Companies and LLC (Initial Coin Offering) Amendment Act 2018 and the Digital Asset Business (Custody of Client Assets) Rules 2025.
Bermuda operates one of the world's earliest and most comprehensive dedicated crypto regulatory regimes. Digital asset businesses (issuers, exchanges, custodians, payment providers, wallet operators) must be licensed by the BMA under DABA 2018, while token issuances are separately regulated under DAIA 2020 and the 2018 ICO Amendment Act. The framework has been progressively expanded — including 2024 stablecoin guidance and the Custody of Client Assets Rules 2025 — with no domestic tax on crypto for individuals.
Key points
The BMA issues Class T (test/proof of concept), Class M (modified/sandbox, 6–12 months) and Class F (full) Digital Asset Business licences covering issuing/redeeming tokens, exchanges, payment service providers, custodial wallets and DA derivatives services. Minimum net-asset requirement is USD 100,000.
DABA defines 'digital asset' broadly to capture virtual coins, tokens, stablecoins and other DLT-based value representations — allowing the BMA to catch new tokenisation activities without new legislation.
The Digital Asset Business (Custody of Client Assets) Rules 2025 came into force on 12 February 2025, mandating segregation of client assets, restrictions on pooling, third-party custodian due diligence, priority waterfalls on insolvency and annual expert reviews.
Breach of DABA or DAIA authorisation and disclosure requirements carries penalties of up to USD 10 million, alongside BMA supervisory sanctions.
Bermuda imposes no income tax, capital-gains tax or withholding tax on digital-asset transactions for individuals. The 2025 corporate income tax only applies to in-scope multinationals with global revenues over EUR 750m.
In 2025 the BMA issued a Call for Proposals on Embedded Supervision for DeFi, seeking pilots for on-chain compliance/reporting, while treating legal entities providing services around otherwise-decentralised protocols as in-scope of DABA.
Timeline - major decisions & events
The Bermuda Monetary Authority published a refreshed Guidance Note setting out expectations and the application process for firms seeking a Digital Asset Business licence, consolidating the regime's maturation since 2018.
Bermuda Monetary Authority ↗The BMA invited firms to a collaborative pilot testing real-time, automated supervision of decentralised finance (e.g. continuous stablecoin collateral monitoring), positioning Bermuda at the frontier of DeFi oversight.
Bermuda Monetary Authority ↗New rules required DABA licensees holding client crypto to segregate customer assets and maintain surety bonds, trust accounts or indemnity insurance, tightening custody protections after global exchange failures.
Bermuda Monetary Authority ↗The guidance set prudential standards for DABA-licensed stablecoin issuers, including full reserve backing in high-quality liquid assets, monthly independent attestations, redemption rights and wind-down plans.
Bermuda Monetary Authority ↗The BMA opened consultation on amendments to mandate wind-down plans, add capital/solvency and liquidity rule-making powers, and expand enforcement powers, the first significant general update to DABA since 2018.
Walkers ↗The court made a compulsory winding-up order against BlockFi International Ltd, a BMA Class F digital asset licensee, following its collapse, the most consequential failure of a Bermuda-licensed crypto firm.
The Royal Gazette ↗Coinbase Bermuda Ltd secured a full 'F' licence under DABA, validating Bermuda as an international hub for major crypto exchanges and prompting Coinbase to base international operations on the island.
The Royal Gazette ↗BlockFi's Bermuda-licensed entity petitioned the Supreme Court for joint provisional liquidators amid FTX-related contagion, the first major stress test of Bermuda's DABA framework.
The Royal Gazette ↗The DAIA replaced the 2018 ICO legislation, moving oversight of token offerings under the BMA and requiring issuers to be authorised, appoint a local representative and publish an offering document.
Bermuda Monetary Authority ↗Bermuda enacted one of the world's first comprehensive digital asset business frameworks, creating BMA-supervised Test, Modified and Full licences and folding crypto activity into AML/ATF rules.
Bermuda Monetary Authority ↗The Companies and Limited Liability Company (Initial Coin Offering) Amendment Act 2018 made ICOs a 'restricted activity' requiring ministerial consent and a filed offer document, Bermuda's first crypto-specific law.
Government of Bermuda ↗Bermuda - other topics
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Last verified 7/8/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Methodology & how to cite · Explore the full world map →