Status: In force. Bermuda’s Digital Asset Issuance Act 2020 is the jurisdiction’s core statute for public offers of digital assets conducted in or from Bermuda. The Act received assent on March 19, 2020 and became operative on May 6, 2020. It places digital asset issuances under the supervisory remit of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), with supporting rules and supervisory principles published by the BMA.
What the Bermuda Digital Asset Issuance Act regulates
The Act focuses on offerings of digital assets rather than the full range of digital asset business activities. It defines a digital asset issuance as an offer to the public to acquire digital assets, or to enter into an agreement to acquire digital assets at a future date. Bermuda-incorporated or Bermuda-formed undertakings are captured when they conduct an issuance in or from Bermuda, and foreign-formed undertakings may also be captured when they conduct an issuance in or from within Bermuda.
The BMA describes the regime as applying to digital asset issuances unless the relevant activity is being carried on as a business, which may bring the activity into Bermuda’s separate digital asset business framework. For CryptoSlate taxonomy purposes, this profile treats the Act as a token issuance, authorization, disclosure, AML/ATF, and acquirer-protection statute.
Key provisions of the Digital Asset Issuance Act 2020
BMA authorisation
Subject to exemptions under the rules, a person may not conduct a digital asset issuance in or from Bermuda unless the person is an authorised undertaking. An application to the BMA must include a business plan, the proposed issuance document, details of management arrangements for the offering, any other information reasonably required by the Authority, and the applicable application fee. The BMA may grant or refuse an authorisation and must be satisfied that the statutory minimum criteria are met.
Issuance document, platform, and updates
The regime uses an issuance document as the main disclosure instrument for digital asset acquirers. The BMA’s 2020 Rules require the document to include a non-technical summary of key information and minimum details about the issuer, the project, the digital asset, the offer structure, risks, custody arrangements, and relevant participants. If particulars in a published issuance document become materially inaccurate, the undertaking must publish supplementary particulars and file them with the BMA.
Acquirer-protection measures
The Act requires a communication facility for messages, questions, and responses while an offer is open or suspended. It also provides a three-business-day withdrawal right for an application made in relation to an offering. Promoters must include risk warnings in the issuance document and on the platform, including information about substantial project risks, rights if the project does not go forward, the rights attached to the digital assets, and any disclaimers relating to guarantees or warranties.
Compliance, custody, and liability
Authorised undertakings must apply appropriate measures for identification and verification of persons participating in a digital asset issuance, and must maintain appropriate mechanisms for digital asset security, confidentiality, and disclosure matters. The Rules further address AML/ATF-style identification and verification, enhanced due diligence, sanctions compliance, recordkeeping, custody reconciliation, and qualified custodian expectations. The Act also creates civil liability for certain untrue statements in issuance documents where a purchaser proves reliance and resulting loss.
Status and timeline
The Act replaced Bermuda’s earlier company and limited liability company initial coin offering provisions, subject to transitional savings for pre-commencement ICO applications. The Digital Asset Issuance Rules 2020 became operative on December 7, 2020, and the BMA’s Statement of Principles explains how the Authority approaches authorisation, restriction, revocation, information gathering, and enforcement powers under the Act. As of July 10, 2026, the official BMA digital asset issuance page continues to list the Act and Rules as the core documents for the DAI regime.