Bermuda Exempted Company
Bermuda Exempted Company filed under the Companies Act 1981 § 5 via a Magic-Circle-tier Bermuda firm. Supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority under the Digital Asset Business Act 2018. Bermuda is the only sovereign that has formally committed to building its national settlement layer on a public blockchain (Circle + Coinbase partnership announced at WEF 2026). Clean on EU + FATF lists. Beneficial Ownership Act 2026 enforcement begins Jun 1, 2026; pre-deadline formations get cleaner BOI verification throughput. Tier-1 crypto-credentialed wrapper; the natural alternative to Cayman Exempted for institutional treasury and digital-asset operators wanting government-level Bitcoin-business legitimacy on the letterhead.
What's included
- Bermuda Monetary Authority non-objection application: we draft and file
- Registrar of Companies incorporation filing + government fee ($1,995)
- Memorandum of Association
- Bye-laws (Bermuda Exempted variant)
- First Director and Subscriber Resolutions
- Year 1 resident representative service (statutory requirement)
- Beneficial Ownership Register filing under the BOR Act regime
- Sanctions screen + Tier 2 KYC
What's NOT included
- Year-2+ government fee + resident representative renewal (~$2,995/yr)
- Digital Asset Business Act (DABA) license application if you plan to operate as a regulated digital-asset firm (separate referral product; Class M / Class T / Class F tiers)
- Economic Substance Act 2018 annual filing for in-scope activity categories (separate compliance product)
- Bermuda bank account opening (separate post-formation flow; Tier-1 private-banking access available with full source-of-funds documentation)
- Director or officer search and engagement (referral basis to local executive-search firms)
- Mail forwarding
We list what's not included on every product page so there are no checkout surprises.
Timeline & terms
- Formation
- 7 business days
- KYC tier
- Tier 2
Operator-grade use case
Bermuda Exempted is the crypto-credentialed REPUTABLE wrapper at the top of the platform price band. The Digital Asset Business Act 2018 supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority is the framework Circle, Coinbase, Kraken, and STS Digital all chose for their Class F licensed entities. In Feb 2026 the government formally committed to building the national settlement layer on a public blockchain with Circle and Coinbase as partners: the strongest sovereign Bitcoin-business endorsement available today.
Most common deployments: institutional crypto treasury for funds and HNW operators wanting a tier-1 alternative to Cayman with the DABA upgrade path in reach, credentialed digital-asset firms that need a regulated wrapper for counterparty and banking acceptance, and DAO operators graduating beyond the Marshall Islands wrapper to a credentialed regulated structure with a DABA Class F pathway available downstream.
Less ideal for: cost-sensitive operators who don't need the credentialed reputation (Wyoming, Cyprus, or Estonia cover the same operational use case at a fraction of the cost), operators in Economic Substance Act in-scope activity categories who can't credibly maintain Bermuda substance (banking, insurance, IP, finance), or anyone whose timeline doesn't tolerate the BMA non-objection process (~1 week pre-filing review on top of Registrar filing). Beneficial Ownership Act 2026 enforcement begins Jun 1, 2026; pre-deadline formations get cleaner BOI throughput.
What you'll need to hand us
- Email address
- Country of residence
- Intended use statement (free-text)
- Government-issued photo ID (passport or national ID)
- Proof of address (utility bill, bank statement, or government letter, dated within 90 days)
- Source-of-funds attestation (drop-down + free text)
- Optional: PEP and adverse-media screening consent
- Everything in Tier 1
- Beneficial owner declaration for every party with 25%+ ownership
- Source-of-wealth documentation (tax return, employment letter, salary, asset proof)
- Manual enhanced-due-diligence reviewer notes from our KYC partner