Bermuda taps Stellar for onchain economy, targets 10% merchant fees

The government of Bermuda will begin moving key payment and financial services onto the Stellar network, a major step in its plan to become the world's first fully onchain national economy. The initiative aims to slash high transaction costs for local businesses, which can reach up to 10 percent.

"The lack of mobile money applications and reliance on legacy payments infrastructure has left Bermudians paying high payment processing fees and hindered additional economic growth opportunities," said The Hon. E. David Burt, Premier of Bermuda. "The use of digital dollars can change that, and the Stellar network's capacity to support public sector initiatives are what make it possible to deliver this responsibly and at the scale Bermuda requires."

The partnership will allow residents to use digital wallets on the Stellar network to receive wages, pay merchants, and settle government fees. Local merchants currently pay between 3 to 5 percent per transaction in card fees, with effective costs climbing as high as 10 percent in some categories. The new system, which will include pilots for stablecoin-based payments, is designed to keep more of that value within the island's economy.

"Bermuda has assembled what most jurisdictions cannot: regulatory clarity, an aligned ecosystem, and a government willing to lead," said Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation. "Stellar was purpose-built to streamline and seamlessly connect the global financial system. It delivers sustained transaction volume, enterprise-grade reliability across financial applications at scale and is the network for regulated onchain assets."

The Onchain Vision

Bermuda's plan, first announced at the World Economic Forum in January 2026, envisions digital assets as the primary financial infrastructure for its citizens, merchants, and government. This is not a parallel system for crypto enthusiasts but a full-scale replacement of legacy payment rails. The move builds on the comprehensive regulatory foundation Bermuda established with its Digital Asset Business Act of 2018, one of the earliest of its kind.

Stellar's network, which can settle payments in seconds at a fraction of a cent, has been used in similar sovereign and institutional deployments. In December 2025, it powered the world's first nationwide onchain disbursement of universal basic income in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Market Reaction and XLM Price

Despite the significance of a nation-state adopting a public blockchain, the market reaction for Stellar's native token, XLM, has been muted. As of 17:00 UTC, XLM was trading around $0.1622, down approximately 4.82 percent over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The token has remained in a range between $0.15 and $0.18 for most of 2026, with the $0.20 level acting as a major technical and psychological resistance barrier.

The CME Group's launch of XLM futures in February 2026 has not yet provided enough momentum to break the token out of its sideways range. According to data from DefiLlama, the Stellar network has a stablecoin market capitalization of approximately $415 million and processes around $1.83 million in daily decentralized exchange volume.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.