Country overview

#115
Macao

Country stats

Rating Points
90
This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.
Crypto Penetration
1.5%
Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.
Legal Entities
0
Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.
Regulation Points
40
An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.
Amount of crypto users
4Β 500
Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.
Taxation points
30
This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.
Market volume points
0
A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.
Status of crypto
No info
General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.
Crypto payments
No regulation
The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.
Security Level
Safe place
The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.
Crypto Salaries
No regulation
The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.
Business Climate
Difficult
Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.
Stablecoin Regulation
Low
This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.
Bad Factors
No
This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.
Types of licenses
No licenses exist
Good
Medium
Bad
intro

Macao is a special administrative region of China, which has the status of special jurisdiction for business and gambling. This is a city located on the coast of the South China Sea. Previously it was a Portuguese colony. Based on Wikipedia (1), it has a 32,9 km2 area and a population of about 680,000 people. 

Mainly, Macao is popular as a place for gambling tourism and by some assumptions (2) its gambling industry is 7 times larger than Las Vegas.  

Based on Local Immigration Office Website (3) citizens of 81 countries can stay in Macao without a visa from 30 to 90 days including CIS countries, EU, Asia, and Latin America. According to Visadb (4) it’s possible to get a residence permit in Macau for foreign investors, after 110 months of living they can get a permanent residency. Based on Wikipedia (5) there is also an option to get residence permit in Macao by investment in fixed assets such as real estate (more than 1,000,000 MOP or about $128,000) or bank deposit (500,000 MOP or $69,000). 

Another options to live in Macao include student visa, non skilled working visa and talent visa according to Visit World (6).

Security level

Based on Numbeo (7) crime rate in Macao is very low. That’s why we qualify this jurisdiction as a safe place. 

Crypto Payments

Macao has allowed payments in digital currencies, but this includes only CBDC. No regulation for payments in cryptocurrencies based on our research. Please, contact us if you have more information about crypto payments and their regulation in Macau.

Crypto Salaries

No regulation.

Legal

Macao still doesn’t have a legal framework for crypto. At the same time in 2022 it has approved special regulation (8) for digital currencies. However, this framework defines only legal status of CBDCs - such as digital yuan. Based on Crypto Slate (9) digital currencies got the same status in payments as fiat.

Taxation

According to Investopedia (10) Macao doesn’t have taxation procedures for foreign earnings and a flat rate of PIT and CIT - 12%. Also there is no CGT tax, but stamp duty is imposed on transfers of tangible/intangible assets. Rental income is taxed at 10%.