Survey: Bermuda can do more to attract blockchain

In March 2018 the Government led a delegation to a major summit in California, where the main topic of conversation was innovation.

One particular area of conversation was blockchain, and the value Bermuda can offer in the blockchain/digital currency arena, an area that the Government of Bermuda has been pushing in 2018 as it seeks to widen the types of companies that are arriving on the Island.

Bermuda:Re+ILS therefore posed the following question to our readers – “With blockchain startups arriving in Bermuda, could the Island do more to attract others?”

The results of our survey were extremely clear - 80 percent voted yes, whilst just 20 percent voted no.

Readers also left a series of comments on what the Island could do to attract more blockchain companies, which covered a wide range of possible solutions.

According to one reader Bermuda could create new insurance products to address this development, whilst on a similar vein another said that Bermuda needs to develop a broad-based insurance solution/market for these new risks.

Other readers pointed to different solutions. One mentioned that the Island needs to be closer to the end users, such as the US.

However, another reader said that the Government of Bermuda needs to ensure that work permits are readily available and continue to be so, with yet another commenting that it would be a good idea to introduce fast-track work permit applications.

And finally one reader took a more long-term view of the best solution, saying that: “The Bermudian government should encourage greater emphasis in its educational efforts on technical skillsets to support these new startups with its native population. It seems its education is still focused on supporting insurance and finance, but not enough attention is given to IT and digitisation.”