Bermuda’s government says more than 1,000 residents and more than 60 local businesses have been onboarded to Coinbase wallets and USDC on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based network. The rollout has been driven through community workshops, local activations and merchant outreach, while Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong visited the island this week as officials discussed a broader digital-finance partnership.
There’s a concrete activity figure alongside those sign-ups: more than $65,000 in USDC has moved through local businesses so far. That makes this more than a partnership announcement or a technical trial. There are resident and merchant counts, plus reported payment flow, showing that people have begun using the system with businesses.
But onboarding and initial transactions don’t establish lasting payment demand. The initiative also included USDC airdrops to help introduce people to the system and encourage initial use; the measure that matters next is whether residents keep paying in USDC after those early efforts, and whether merchants continue accepting it alongside conventional payment methods. The disclosed total doesn’t tell us how many people paid repeatedly, how many merchants saw recurring use, or how much activity came from incentives.
So Bermuda has produced a measurable early test of stablecoin payments outside crypto trading, not yet proof of an everyday habit. Continued customer use and merchant participation will show whether this activity persists beyond the rollout.