Bermuda is All In on Blockchain and Crypto!.. Here's Why | Anthony Howell

**Tony Edward** (0:05)
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.

**Anthony Howell** (0:19)
Thank you so much, Tony, for having me here today. It's an absolute pleasure.

**Tony Edward** (0:22)
Yeah, 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 you.

**Anthony Howell** (0:30)
Yeah, we have. We've 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.

**Tony Edward** (0:37)
Well, I'm more excited because I followed what Bermuda has been doing over the years with approaching Web3, taking the economy on chain and much, much more. It's a plethora of initiatives you guys have going on.
But let's start quickly with your background and what you do and how do you make a way into this Web3 industry?

**Anthony Howell** (0:56)
Yeah, sure. No problem. Yes, as you mentioned, Bermuda is doing a lot. And I think that kind of is a juxtapose of 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 2022 and this was the initiative of pushing the directive for digital asset incorporation 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 integrating to their own system a little bit in terms of those conversations and dialogue. So it's been a very interesting journey.

**Tony Edward** (1:48)
Absolutely. The world is moving so fast. Of course, technology with AI, blockchain, crypto, robotics and all these things, a brand new world.

**Anthony Howell** (1:57)
Always a brand new world. And one thing I've learned is that technology doesn't stop for anybody. It's kind of like a clock.

**Tony Edward** (2:03)
Right. It's inevitable. Right.
So tell us about Bermuda's different initiatives around Web 3 and what you guys are working on.

**Anthony Howell** (2:11)
Yeah. You know, Bermuda has been a leader in Web 3 I think is one of the first jurisdictions to really have legislation in place for the Digital Asset and Business Act, which was put forward in 2017 and enacted into law in 2018
It's the Digital Asset and Exuance 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 aspire 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 legislation in place, and this is a great jurisdiction to operate out of. And so we've seen a massive growth. The companies have interest in Bermuda and come to our shores.
And, you know, Web3, we've done so much in that space. I mean, it's easier to listen to things we haven't done than things we have done.

**Tony Edward** (3:06)
That's incredible. And you guys were so early to passing crypto legislation. You mentioned it was put forth in 2017, passed in 2018 I mean, that's almost unheard of.

**Anthony Howell** (3:16)
Yes.

**Tony Edward** (3:16)
It's so early because this asset class was still so young, a baby.

**Anthony Howell** (3:20)
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, re-insurance is a big component of that international finance. And so we have to be very innovative because we don't have oil, we don't have gold. Sure. We have to be on top 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.

**Tony Edward** (3:47)
So let's double click into some of the initiatives. There's digital identity, there's AI agents and much more. What could you tell us?