The island’s first onchain merchant is expected to go live in the second quarter of 2027 on the Stellar network
Bermuda wants to become the world’s first fully onchain national economy. Its next step is concert tickets.
The island has chosen WalletConnect, a crypto connectivity network, to expand digital asset payments across Bermuda. The first merchant on the system will be Premier Tickets, better known as PTIX, with payments expected to go live in the second quarter of 2027, according to an announcement shared with CoinDesk.
How the PTIX rollout is expected to work
The deal lands alongside the launch of WalletConnect Pay on Stellar. That is the blockchain Bermuda selected in May to move key payments onchain.
WalletConnect Pay began supporting Stellar for merchant integrations as of September 2026. That timing matters, because Bermuda’s chosen settlement rail now has a ready-made checkout layer.
PTIX makes a logical first test case. The company has served as Bermuda’s primary event ticketing operation since it was founded in 2009.
The economic pitch centers on fees. Local merchants in Bermuda face card processing fees of between 3% to 5%, potentially reaching up to 10% in some cases.
Transaction volumes and the exact fees PTIX will pay on the new system have not been disclosed.
Bermuda’s long road to an onchain economy
Bermuda laid its legal groundwork with the Digital Asset Business Act, or DABA, back in 2018.
In January 2026, Bermuda unveiled a collaborative effort with Circle and Coinbase during the World Economic Forum. Then in May 2026, it formally selected Stellar as its payment settlement rail.
The broader vision involves putting digital asset activity, wages and government fees onchain. PTIX is the first merchant in that system, not the finish line.
What this means for merchants, Stellar and other governments
For Stellar, Bermuda offers something many blockchains lack: a sovereign use case tied to everyday spending.
What to watch between now and then: whether additional merchants sign on after PTIX, whether Bermuda discloses expected fee savings, and how the Circle and Coinbase collaboration fits alongside the Stellar and WalletConnect stack.
Event tickets are a sensible starting point, but wages and government fees moving onchain would be the clearer signal that Bermuda’s onchain economy is more than a branding exercise.
For now, the island has a merchant, a settlement network, a payments layer and a target date.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
