Country overview

This is general info about crypto regulation in Barbados. A more precise overview will be published later. However, if you find any inaccuracy or have other feedback - please write us in telegram @ilya_ii or by e-mail - editor@cryptopenetration.com

Barbados (1) is an island nation located in the Caribbean with a population of 300,000 people and an area of 450 km².

In Barbados (2), there are various conditions for visa-free entry into the country for citizens of different countries (from 6 months of visa-free stay in the country to 28 days). In addition, Barbados offers a digital nomad visa.

  Barbados has a moderate danger security level according to our rating. Jurisdiction has 52.9 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (3). The homicide level (4) is 15.3 per 100,000 inhabitants a year. Level of firearm-related death (5) 6.83 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.  

Barbados (6) has not currently adopted laws regulating cryptocurrency, so it can be assumed that crypto payments in the country are also not regulated.  

Due to the lack of cryptocurrency regulation in Barbados, it can be assumed that salary payments in cryptocurrencies are also not regulated.

There is no clear crypto regulation in Barbados. However, the government and its policy in the field of fintech and business may be called pro crypto. It looks like Barbados has similar policy with other offshore countries that have no clear regulation for crypto, but at the same time allow crypto operations like Costa Rica, Panama, Seychelles and some other jurisdictions.

Barbados has been an early adopter of FinTech (7) in the region. Bitt Incorporated, a Barbadian startup in the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and blockchain space, created a virtual currency in 2016 that was pegged to the value of the Barbados dollar – essentially a digital Barbadian dollar. The Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) has also embraced developments within the FinTech (7) sphere. The exchange's recent goal – deploying a trade engine solution, particularly for the trading of securitized crypto tokens.

Together with Belize and the Cayman Islands this country has approved Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) (8) on the international level. There is a regulatory sandbox regime (9) for Fintechs in the country implented by the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) and the Financial Services Commission (FSC). So probably crypto entities in Barbados can operate as standard Fintech entities under current regulation.

  Effective 1 January 2020, the basic personal income tax (10) rate is 12.5% and the higher rate is 28.5%. The following rates apply to taxes on corporate income (11): 0% - 5.5%. Based on Africafeeds (12) Barbados doesn’t have CGT tax for crypto.   

1)👉🏻Barbados. Wikipedia 

2)👉🏻Visa in Barbados

3)👉🏻Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

4)👉🏻List of countries by intentional homicide rate

5)👉🏻List of countries by firearm-related death rate

6)👉🏻 Barbados and Cryptocurrency

7)👉🏻Barbados: The Barbados Jurisdiction, Crypto Assets, And The International Securities Market

8)👉🏻Barbados. Individual - Taxes on personal income

9)👉🏻Barbados. Corporate - Taxes on corporate income