Bidali In Bermuda
Posted by Cory Smith on March 5th, 2020
Arriving in Bermuda off the back of his trip to Davos for the World Economic Forum, our CEO & Co-Founder Eric Kryski (rear, centre above Bermuda's Premier David Burt) travelled to Hamilton, Bermuda to explore how the jurisdiction can accelerate Bidali’s growth and how Bidali's new payment system can benefit Bermudians. The Atlantic island appeals to us because its size, proximity, and regulatory friendly environment fits in the "goldilocks zone" that could truly bring digital payments mainstream; 60 thousand people is large enough to demonstrate a meaningful production deployment before scaling up to more demanding environments.
Bermuda has presented itself as an attractive jurisdiction for Bidali ever since the government passed the Digital Assets Business Act (DABA) in 2018, creating a sandbox for innovation within the digital asset space. The new legislation is appealing for firms like ours that are looking to experiment and grow an emerging digital economy. The DABA legislation is significant as it shows Bermuda’s commitment to becoming a world leader in the fin-tech industry.
"Bidali provides the "last mile" payments infrastructure that makes next generation digital currencies actually usable - whether they are assets on public ledgers, distributed ledgers, or central bank digital currencies."
At the end of January, Eric presented Bidali and how our digital currency payments platform "is the last mile infrastructure required for next generation digital currencies" and how it can improve efficiency and make a meaningful economic impact to the people of Bermuda. Listening to our charismatic CEO’s pitch were key stakeholders from the private and public sectors of Bermuda, along with key representatives from the Canadian Consulate. Some of the attendees included members of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Bermuda Development Agency, Appleby Global (a leading global law firm), Continental Management Limited and local commercial banks. Constructive collaboration between these stakeholders will be crucial in shaping an environment where Bidali can effectively enter the market and contribute to the community’s success.
Having both David Burt, Premier of Bermuda, and Khawar Nasim, Acting Consul General at the Consulate General of Canada in New York, participate in a fireside chat shows just how important the topic of fintech is to Bermuda. Attracting the attention of such key people created a considerable amount of buzz. In the lead up to the event, the Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s leading newspaper published an article kicking off the summit and announcing Bidali’s arrival. They then sent several journalists to cover the event and published a follow up article discussing Bidali and the four other Canadian companies comprising the cohort.
At Bidali we are eager to get our payments platform distributed all over the world. This started off with enabling people to easily convert the value of their digital assets to other mediums of exchange and stored value (gift cards, mobile airtime, bill payments). This has proven successful in demonstrating what is possible with the technology. But in order to go mainstream, working with regulators and governments is likely required and taking both a top-down and bottom-up approach with progressive governments has always been part of the plan. By doing so, with a high degree of trust, we can demonstrate what is possible with digital assets and dispel some of the common myths that have inhibited mass adoption thus far.
To date, what's been missing in blockchain payments has been a true manifestation of more mainstream real world payments using digital assets. Even though we have seen tremendous organic growth, up until now, most people using digital currencies are early adopters and are serving isolated use cases. Bermuda could be just the right place to demonstrate the tremendous benefits of digital payments within a broader, more mainstream user base. Doing so will make transacting more efficient for all Bermudians, increase GDP, and will encourage more people to own digital wallets - in turn bringing more people into the more efficient and secure digital asset economy and acting as a key milestone in the evolution of this technology.
Our recent announcement of jointly launching a Canadian stablecoin, QCAD, could not have come at a better time. At Bidali, we're now solidifying ourselves as a global market leading payments platform for these more programmable and interoperable digital currencies.
As discussions with key stakeholders in Bermuda continue to move forward around a national digital currency, Bidali fits perfectly as the payments and settlement layer necessary to facilitate mass adoption of such an initiative. Such efforts could allow Bermuda to be the world’s first country to have nation-wide adoption of a blockchain-based currency system, which would set a historic precedent in the evolution of money and trade finance.
Stay tuned,
Cory & The Bidali Team
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