Tropical Vanuatu Grants Citizenship For BTC

Vanuatu has become the first country to issue citizenships in exchange for BTC, the world’s most prosperous and successful cryptocurrency. The small South Pacific island with sunny beaches, much like our vision of Heaven, offers a residency program for the amount of $200,000 USD, which is somewhere around 41.5 Bitcoins. The current value of this currency is $4,900.55 per unit.

The country is located in the South Pacific Ocean, whose volcanic archipelago is made of 83 peninsulae and stretches some 800 kilometres (497 mi) between northern Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji. The capital, and country’s largest city, Port Vila, dates all the way back to the 17th century, when Portuguese explorers arrived, but the British and the French soon took over the economic control of the zone.

Vanuatu is a distinct member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and has no known limitations on visa, which includes free travel to over 100 countries. Government officials expressed a huge desire to adopt new technologies above all else, and encourage the inhabitants and VIC to receive payments in cryptocurrencies. The chairman of Vanuatu Information Centre has stated that all transactions will be run through Australian Exchange, meeting normal compliance requirements and regulations.

An investment migration specialist, Christian Nesheim, advised the Government to accept the citizenship program based on the exchange for BTC in order to gain a significant advantage on the market and improve its tax system, which already ensures considerable capital gains for the country. Also, cryptocurrency investors are on the lookout for changes in low-tax jurisdictions, to the extent of converting Bitcoin into substantial assets.

Thanks to the digital currency’s transparency, Government officials are convinced that the new move is beneficial for the country, as growth within the immigration sector is on the rise. According to the latest estimations, the industry is worth around $2 billion USD per year. Thailand has also developed a similar program, in exchange for $60,000 USD per 20 years of residency, whereas Cyprus demands a bit higher investment - $2 million for the passport with access to the EU.

Source:

“Vanuatu Becomes First Nation to Accept Bitcoin in Exchange for Citizenship”, Samuel Haig, bitcoin.com, October 10, 2017.