Speaker 1: Hey, folks, we are recording at the Injective Policy Summit
in Washington, DC, and joining me is Anthony Howell, who
is the overseas representative for the Government of Bermuda. He's
also the director of the Washington DC Office. Anthony. Great
to have you.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Tony for having me here today.
Is absolute pleasure.
Speaker 1: Hey, Anthony, we've met quite a few times over the
years at these different crypto policy summits and so forth.
It's good to see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have just never been able to pin down
a podcast, so I'm very glad you took the time
out to get me on here today, So I'm very appreciative.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm more excited because I followed what the or
what Bermuda has been doing over the years with approaching
Web three, taking the economy on chain, and much much more.
It's a plethora of initiatives you guys have going on.
But let's start with quickly with your background and what
you do and how'd you make your way into this's
Web three industry.
Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, no problem. Yes, as you mentioned, Bermuda is
doing a lot, and I think that kind of is
a juxtaposed to my background and why I'm in this position.
I am. My background is in politics, law. I have
a very background from multiple different universities. I've been in
the tech space for probably about going on maybe six
years now, so I do have the expertise there, got
some certificates in that as well. And really it's just
been a fascinating journey from my standpoint because I entered
this office back in twenty twenty two and this was
the initiative of pushing the Director for Digital Asset and
Corporation into BERMUDA with the legislation being written just a
few years before that, and really seeing the transformation in
the United States and Bermuda's being so close as a
jurisdiction to the US kind of being integrated into their
own system a little bit in terms of those conversations
and dialogue. So it's been a very interesting journey.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Oh, the world is moving so fast towards technology
with AI, blockchain, crypto, robotics and all these things. A
brand new world.
Speaker 2: Always a brand new world. And one thing I've learned
is that technology doesn't stop for anybody.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like a clock, right, It's inevitable. Right,
So tell us about BERMUDA is different initiatives around Web
three and what you guys are working on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Bermuda's been a leader in Web three.
I think it's one of the first jurisdictions to really
have legislation in place for the Digital Asset of Business
Act DABBA was put forward in twenty seventeen and acted
into low in twenty eighteen with the Digital Asset and
Issuance Act that came right behind that as well. And
in that space, it's allowed us to really become the
leader that most countries almost aspired to be. It's allowed
us to really get that foothold. We've engaged with different jurisdictions.
We've had you know, shared reciprocity to basically indicate what
worked for us. We really see that the benefit of
it is a lot of companies saying, hey, we need
that clarity, we need that jurisdiction that has great regulatory
spacing and great legislation in place, and it's a great
jurisdiction to operate out of. And so we've seen massive
growth of companies have interest in Bermuda and come to
our shores. And you know, Web three we've done so
much in that space. I mean, it's easier to listen
to things we haven't done things we have done.
Speaker 1: That's incredible. And you guys were so early to passing
crypto legislation. You mentioned it was put forth in twenty seventeen,
passing twenty eighteen. I mean that's almost unheard of. Yes,
so early, because this acid class was still so young,
a baby.
Speaker 2: Yeah it was, And I think that that kind of
really plays to Bermuda's innovation and how it styles itself.
We do as a small jurisdiction, our main industry is
you know, international corporate business insurance. Reassurance is a big
proponent of that, international finance, and so we have to
be very innovative because we don't we don't have oil,
we don't have gold. Sure, we have to be on
top and on and very in front of what the
new wave technology looks like. And as we saw was
coming down the pipeline and that's why DABA was enacted
and we've seen the success from that.
Speaker 1: So let's double click into some of the initiatives. There's
digital identity, there's AI agent said much more, what could
you tell us?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, sure, so digital identity is a very interesting one.
Had the chance to sit on one of the working
groups and be on one of the boards that we're
looking into the development of it and the PERMUTI Monetary
Authority that's our regulator and one of the best regulators
in the world. There puts some proposals going forward to
seeing what new acts and go forward. Currently, the one
they're talking about right now is called DISPA is the
Digital Identity Service Provider Act and that's trying to create
a set standard in Bermuda globally on what does can
look like for the different providers to have the security
with the credentials when it comes to identity. So it's
something that it hasn't been forward yet, but this is
something that the BMA is looking into. DABA has the
whole presence when it comes to dial so we do
have dials that are present on the island and of
course the BMA does keep the provision over it to
see exactly what's going to work, what doesn't work. That
way that we have clarity going forward and we can
see you make sure there's no issues because again they're
responsible regulator.
Speaker 1: Right so this what you guys are doing could be
a certain certainly be a model for other islands countries.
You're advising the US in certain ways, tell us about
how you're working with the agencies and politicians here.
Speaker 2: Sure, so advising is a bit of a strong world,
which is kind of more or less sharing what works
for us. But you know, I mean always open to
those conversations. Our premiere is very forward in this area.
He has flown out here. I've supported him when he
comes to DC to meet with different politicians, different persons
in the different agencies. We've met with a person from
SEC and you know, FINRA and US Treasury, and again
it's more or less to share what does work because
we want to make sure that you know, a good
ecosystem in the US is an ecosystem for Bermuda, because
any hiccups and any jurisdiction that you look at can
impact the industry in a negative and as an island
nation that depends on these kind of safeguards, we don't
want to see anyone fail. I mean, US is our
biggest trade partner. We trade a billion dollars a year
in trade with them, and we can have a very
long standing relationship with the US, so we're always here
for them. We have worked with the different commission groups.
We'd work one with out of Wyoming. They're doing the
stable tognization out there. So it's we're here in the
support capacity to share our experience, to share our works
for us, and you know, will always open to those
conversations and dialogues.
Speaker 1: That's really great to hear. And the collaboration and alignment
between different countries is so important to your point for
the growth of the acid class the ecosystem. And I
just read I think it was yesterday or the day before,
US and the UK are trying to figure out alignment
on tokenization rules and things like that. So that needs
to happen globally for this thing to all grow.
Speaker 2: And it has to. It can't be compartmentalized, and that's
one thing that we're looking at, so we want to
make sure. And the other thing, I will notice that
every jurisdiction is different, So what will work for our
jurisdiction is going to be not transferable one hundred percent
to another. Of course, the frameworks will work, but there's
always gonna be the little nuances, you know, because some
jurisdictions have multiple re US has multiple regulators. You know,
you've seen like you know, the UAE has two, RITA
has one so it's gonna be those slight you know,
difference nuance, no differences. But overall we can come together
to create you know, a universal approach that's going to
be best for the industry.
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely. Now, one of the great things you guys
offer is a sandbox where businesses can come get licenses.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2: Yes, actually, yes, so we do have a sandbox. So
business that comes to Remuted they can get a license.
Usually there's there's three licenses, and usually depends on what
type of company, the size of the company, and the
product that they offer, what stage of development it's at.
If it's a brand new innovative idea, which we encourage,
we encourage those that have the new innovative you know,
test model that they want to kind of put into market,
but they haven't worked the kinks out yet. They want
a place to operate out of it's a great place
for it, they'll come and get a te license. If
it's more developed but not large in scale, they'll get
a modified license. And of course if it's a massive
company that already has service providers, already has clienteles, customers,
and you know, does great revenue, they can get a
full license. But of course, and those classes are Class
A F, Class M, Class T for full A moderate
in test And of course the BMA is the one
that decides that. So once you go through the process,
they'll make the declarational which class is going to be
appropriate for your company.
Speaker 1: Now, with this technology on the rise, it's still new
to a lot of people, right people are trying to
learn about it. How are you educating both the businesses
and people and are you seeing let's say, the younger
generation who are more tech savvy, you know, gravitating towards
it absolutely.
Speaker 2: You know, I love my mother, but she she can't
work a phone right now, so she's not learning it.
But you know, surprisingly enough, is not just in younger generation,
it is a lot of actually the middle generation too,
who they see that this is the new wave that's
coming through and they don't want to be left behind.
So the young generation are very quick to adapt, very
quick to run with it because it's something to're growing
up with. And the generation a little bit older than them,
they see that this is the pathway forward. They want
to make sure that they're not left behind. A loss
in the weeds, and so Bermuda is doing very much
different approaches. We have technical work shops and we have
different organizations that are part of this, like the Near
Foundation and a few other ones. Uh. I remember in
uh just previously in May we had the digital finance
for them. We actually saw you know, different workshops and
different groups of organizations. There were like thirty vendors that
were doing training there. We like over five hundred participants
that were there and they even dropped you know, thousands
of thousands dollars worth of tokens that that were that
were shared among the attendees. And so this is just
you know, some of the areas in which there is
a way to make sure that we do see a
continued educational push so that the island itself doesn't get
left behind.
Speaker 1: So education is so important for everyday use, for people
to understand the technology to benefits and much more so,
it's great to hear that you're educating folks in Bermuda,
and I'm sure they're going to get a lot of benefit.
Speaker 2: From that, absolutely, and we do try to push that
and you know the tertiary education as well, and there's
also courses and classes that we always encourage people to
take in some and I mean there's external programs that
you know, look to come to Bermuda as well to
set up educational workshop and things of that nature. And
so always open to those collaborations and those conversations too.
Speaker 1: So with the direction that Bermuda is heading in in
addition to the United States, UK, EU and other countries
and jurisdictions that they're embracing this technology, they're putting currency
on the blockchain, they're putting assets on the chain that
you know, over time, this is how the world's going
to function with everything digitized.
Speaker 2: Yes, you know, and that's actually a great segue and
it goes to just a segway that our premier has
said and dabbles of going on chain and getting the
island on chain. What that looks like right now is
working progress. We have the people that are looking into
you know, how that's going to because again, you know,
it's it's it is a large ask. Brina is a
small jurisdiction, so it's a little bit probably vast your
cell point on that, but you know, we want to
make sure that it's one hundred percent right, is done correctly,
there is you know goodbuye in and that we see
the transformation that's going to take shape and to that point,
we are getting to the point where we are seeing
digitization coming to full effect in many different regards globally.
And of course we won't me to to be you know,
one of the spirit has in that conversation, well, I.
Speaker 1: Have to come down to Bermuda and check out what
you guys got going on, because you're leading in any
ways and I can imagine Bermuda might have robot humanoid
robots ahead of other countries.
Speaker 2: Oh man, well, you know, I mean that is something
that's one thing that we We don't have a lot
of his robotics to be very honest, but you know
it's very as long as Bermuda jobs are protected. Yeah,
you want to you want to give them up, but
you know, again, we want to be an innovation hub
and people want to come down to test products, to
test robotics, to test AI, to test AI agents. You know,
we're looking at every way in which that we can
stay at the forefront and be the leader that we
that that we've established. We've been a leader in the
insurance and insurance industry, you know, in finance digital finance
now and so we are very much appreciative that we're
seen in that lens because it is a small jurisdiction
and people can overlook it. But when you see what
we're capable of, you understand that this is a an
amazing hub to operate out of. And that's why we
have the success that we have, and that's why a
lot of people do gravitate towards our islands. I mean,
we love to have you come down to decie for yourself.
Like I said, we have the digital finance form that
takes place usually in May, just took place last year
and the year before. Hopefully we have it again next year,
and of course always looking for any opportunity to have
all the conferences and events on the island.
Speaker 1: I love it, and you guys are very forward thinking,
forward looking, and yeah, I will definitely have to make
it a way down and test all these things out.
But again, love what you guys are doing. And thank
you so much, Anthony for taking the time.
Speaker 2: Tony, thank you so much for having me on here today.
I greatly appreciate it.
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