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Citizenship by Investment & Cryptocurrency

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Date Published: November 30, 2022 | Date Updated: January 20th, 2023
By November 30, 2022 January 20th, 2023 No Comments
Citizenship by investment and cryptocurrency

Citizenship by investment has long been a favoured venture among the globe’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), proving an affordable route to obtaining a better passport, a formidable contingency plan, and a way to safeguard their children’s futures.

As the trend continues to grow among HNWIs, it is unsurprising that obtaining citizenship by investment has become popular among crypto millionaires as well.

Crypto Millionaires Around The World

While it is difficult to pinpoint the number of cryptocurrency HNWIs, which is the main point of basing cryptocurrency on blockchain technology, experts place a rough estimate anywhere between 81,000-100,000 worldwide, and a significant portion of them come from countries such as Nigeria, Vietnam, the Philippines, South Africa.

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Nigeria, which has the most significant number of cryptocurrency traders in the world per capita, has a passport that allows visa-free access to a mere 46 destinations worldwide, most of them confined to Africa. Vietnam’s passport is limited to 55 destinations, while the Philippines’ passport can only get into 67 destinations visa-free. This is a far cry from Caribbean passports, like that of St Kitts & Nevis, which boasts visa-free access to a staggering 157 destinations throughout the globe.

Crypto-Friendly Countries

This leads to the conclusion that many of these crypto millionaires need a second, stronger passport, and they are in luck that the Caribbean countries offering this not only have powerful passports but are also highly crypto-friendly.  

Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, and St Lucia all have massively popular Citizenship by Investment Programs (CIPs) that award a passport with visa-free access to a wide array of destinations worldwide, including the EU, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and more, in exchange for a qualifying investment.

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However, crypto investors may view Caribbean CIPs not only as a route to obtaining a better passport but also to elevate their crypto trading. All of the aforementioned Caribbean countries are well-known crypto-friendly destinations, even to the point where Roger Ver, an early investor of bitcoin, has made St Kitts & Nevis one of his main bases of operation while also becoming a Kittitian citizen himself.

Citizenship by investment and cryptocurrency.

Combining Citizenship by Investment Programs with cryptocurrency elevates the degree of freedom, allowing a person to roam the globe along with their wealth.

Financial Benefits

Crypto millionaires choosing the Caribbean as an option for a second citizenship makes complete sense, especially in a financial context, as the countries do not tax foreign income such as crypto profits, nor do they levy wealth, capital gains, or inheritance tax, making them an excellent place for cryptocurrency millionaires to maintain and enhance their wealth.  

This is extremely important for people from countries with high crypto profit taxes, such as India, which levies a tax on crypto profits starting at 30%, or the US, where a new tax reform is set to double capital gains taxes 

But it isn’t solely about taxes; these countries boast robust financial service sectors that have pivoted many of their offerings to meet the demands of crypto traders. In Antigua & Barbuda, for example, thirteen different financial institutions offer crypto trading services. St Kitts & Nevis already has a Bitcoin ATM installed, with more set to come, while the banks throughout the Caribbean already offer a suite of solutions for cryptocurrency investors.

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Not only that, but after St Kitts & Nevis passed its Virtual Asset Bill in 2020, normalising cryptocurrency trading, it has quickly become a hub for crypto investors. According to Bitcoin Maps, St Kitts & Nevis currently has 175 shops accepting cryptocurrency payments. France, on the other hand, has 23, while Italy has 34. 

To put these numbers in a greater context, St Kitts & Nevis has one shop that accepts cryptocurrency for every 1.5 square km, while France has one for every 24,000 square km. This shows how prevalent cryptocurrency is in the Caribbean nation.  

The fact that Caribbean CIPs offer highly affordable rates, and a simplified process makes it easy to see why they are becoming highly popular among the globe’s crypto millionaires, and the trend is set to continue growing. 

To know more about how a second citizenship can help bolster your cryptocurrency trading or how it can elevate your entire lifestyle, contact us today to book a comprehensive consultation with one of our experts.

 

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Jeremy Savory

About Jeremy Savory

Jeremy Savory, the founder and CEO of Savory and Partners, runs one of the world’s leading HNW citizenship by investment firms. The second passport company has coverage in over 20 jurisdictions including Europe.

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