Fintech adviser: ‘nays’ risk Bermuda losing out on ‘next decade’s biggest industry’ – The Royal Gazette
Updated: 21 November 2022 07:59
Denis Pitcher, the government’s fintech adviser, has warned that “naysayers” could drive the fintech industry out of Bermuda.
Bermuda’s “nay-sayers” risk the island losing out on “the biggest industry of the next decade”, the government’s fintech adviser has warned.
Denis Pitcher, head of booking management company resQwest, dismissed the gleeful attitude that blighted the island’s e-commerce prospects 20 years ago – saying Bermuda was at “a similar inflection point” with fintech and digital assets.
Mr Pitcher’s comments came after the collapse of global fintech firm FTX sent a chill through the burgeoning new industry, which Bermuda has been aggressively pursuing since 2017 in the prospect of becoming a technology hub and regulator.
He wrote on Twitter: “Bermuda had the opportunity to play a much bigger role in e-commerce and develop a tech industry but blew it.
“Naysayers dominated discussions in the early 2000s. Eventually Bermuda gave up focus and missed the boat. I fear the same could happen with fintech and digital assets.”
In the wake of FTX’s precipitous fall this month, after the firm had reaped billions in investment, David Burt stood by the island’s promise as a trailblazer in the world of digital business.
The premier posted online that Bermuda’s regulatory regime was set to provide “prudential oversight” for the emerging fintech field.
But others have warned that the “easy money” in cryptocurrency could damage Bermuda’s reputation as a jurisdiction while providing little return.
Last month, Martin Walker, director of banking and finance at the non-profit Center for Evidence-Based Management, said: The Royal Gazette that the crypto industry thrives on a lack of regulation with “high-risk, increasingly complex products”.
Bermuda courted e-commerce from the late 1990s, assigning the emerging industry its own government department.
But Pitcher lamented that critics poured cold water on what could have propelled the island into Internet-driven business.
He said it “could have been more of a driver if people had looked for them instead of looking for reasons why it shouldn’t be here”.
He highlighted the creation of the e-commerce incubator eVenture Centre, which was the springboard for his own business as well as firms such as QuoVadis and Ignition.
He added that “technology was not well supported”, posting: “Many argued that technology would not be a thing and that Bermuda could not lead in technology because it was behind in terms of infrastructure at the time.”
Although eVenture had a promising start, it folded when its backer, insurance company Center Group, dropped it in 2003.
Pitcher, whose company provided the software behind Covid-19 travel protocols, wrote: “I suspect that if Bermuda had focused and pushed forward, it would have a much more vibrant tech industry.
“Bermuda is at a similar tipping point. Let the naysayers win and we probably won’t play much of a role in the biggest industry for the next decade.
“We will look back and wonder why we still only have a single significant economic pillar, and wonder why we missed the boat again.”
