Martin Walker Tells Bermuda to Be Cautious of Crypto

Martin Walker – a tech expert and finance director at the nonprofit Center for Evidence-Based Management – says the island of Bermuda is taking a huge chance by inviting so many digital currency exchanges and related businesses to set up shop within its borders.

Martin Walker to Bermuda: Be Careful!

Bermuda is one of the most crypto-friendly regions in the world. The area has virtually little to no regulation when it comes to crypto activity, meaning digital currency and blockchain enterprises can come to the island and do whatever they want without facing any throwbacks or regulatory issues.

This is good in the sense that crypto was initially designed to prevent third parties and prying eyes from taking over. Those who took part in crypto did so because they felt they could remain private and not have outside forces spying on whatever they were doing.

At the same time, it does leave various doors open for crime and fraudulent activity, and Walker says that if Bermuda wants to establish itself as the ultimate crypto hub, it needs to take more steps to ensure all digital currency actions are safe and legitimate. In a recent interview, Walker said of Bermuda and its regulators:

It seems like easy money but think of the risks you are taking.

Walker isn’t the only one who feels this way. Francine McKenna – a faculty lecturer at the Wharton School at the University of Philadelphia – commented:

I think they [Bermuda] should be very careful who they support and promote.

Walker furthered his statement by mentioning that all crypto activity is meant to remain anonymous. Thus, Bermuda needs to keep its eyes open for any illicit actors that could be aiming to set up shop on its turf for the purpose of being non-transparent and sneaky in their operations. He said:

It’s a similar situation that the conventional banks are in. They think, ‘There’s lots of money here. We want a piece’… You are taking a huge reputational risk to possibly make very, very little.

Crypto Can Just Find a New Region

He also brought up the fact that recently, Bermuda was added to an EU-based standards list playfully called the “grey list.” The firms and countries included on this list are not necessarily dangerous, but they’re often looked at through a close lens given the lack of financial rules and laws one is likely to encounter there. He commented:

You don’t want to get on the ‘grey list’, again… If you let it [crypto] get a long way, then it probably means that you have lost your grip [on] the good things that make people come in the first place… You can just ruin the whole of that. The crypto industry does not [care] about that kind of stuff. They can just up and move.

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