Country overview

#10

British Virgin Islands

Country stats

Rating Points

420

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

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

190

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

1 500

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

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

14.5

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

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

No info

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

High danger

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

No info

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

Good

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

EU Tax haven list

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

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Cryptofund

This indicator means that investment funds, trusts, and crypto funds can get regulator approval to provide their activity in the country.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

BVA is famous for its opportunities as offshore jurisdiction and has an elaborate system of crypto regulation. It's located in Lesser Antilles, Carribean and has a status of the United Kingdom overseas territory. The territory of BVA is about 151 km2 and total population - 37,381. Since 1959 BVA use US dollar as a national currency, which simplifies cross-border transactions.

Security level

According to our rating, the British Virgin Islands has a high danger security level. Homicide level (1) is 8.2 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

There are precise regulations for crypto payments in BVI. But it’s probably possible to accept crypto payments according to current regulation and its interpretation from Carey Olsen's review (2) of BVA's VASP act.

Crypto Salaries

We need more information about crypto salaries in BVA and their regulation. Please get in touch with us if you have this type of data.

Legal

VASPs in the British Virgin Islands are regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). You can find more information about VASP licensing in BVI on the site of FSC (3):
-Guidance on VASP registration procedure (4)
-VASP AML Guide (5)
-VASP Act (6)

VASP Act came into force on 1 February 2023. Any crypto companies providing VASP services must register with the FSC. Carey Olsen (7) has provided an overview of BVA's VASP Act, and according to it, VASPs include crypto exchange, custody, transfers, and other types of activity.

Definition of VASP from Carey Olsen

The VASP Act defines a “VASP” as a virtual asset service provider who provides, as a business, a virtual assets service and is registered to conduct one or more of the following activities or operations for or on behalf of another person:

According to Carey Olsen, any entity that wants to register as a VASP also must pay registration fees:

-US$10,000 for an application to provide Virtual Assets Custody Services

-US$10,000 for an application to operate a Virtual Assets Exchange

-US$5,000 for any other virtual assets services.

According to Conyers guide (8) on BVI, there are also available two other types of crypto licenses - crypto funds/mutual Funds and derivatives (regulated under SIBA).

As for March 2024 local official during the briefing claimed (9) that there are about 60 applications to get VASP license in BVI. Based on Cointelegraph (10), Huobi has a legal entity in the British Virgin Islands.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	0
PIT tax Max	0
Corporate tax (CIT)	0
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0

According to Loebsmith (11), BVI companies are not subject to “income, corporate, capital gains or wealth taxes, withholdings or other similar taxes” under BVI law.

Also, according to Enterslice guide (12), BVI has no double taxation agreement with any jurisdiction, which means it doesn't disclose any information to other jurisdictions except the US - since BVI has signed the US FATCA Agreement to fight against tax evasion. However, businesses that recruit local employees pay a 10% payroll tax.

Most personal income taxes are tax-free, according to Enterslice.

No direct personal taxes are levied in BVI. Personal income, capital gains, net worth, and inheritances are also exempt from taxes.

Payroll taxes at the rate of 8% can be refunded at the expense of the employees. In addition to the payroll taxes, social security is contributed by both employers and employees at the rate of 4.5%.

Links

1)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

2)Carey Olsen. Every VASP should know ten things about the BVI Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022

3)FSC The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022 (short review)

4)FSC Guidance on VASP registration procedure

5)Virtual Assets Service Providers Guide to the Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing

6)BVI VASP Act 2022 (full version)

7)Carey Olsen. Every VASP should know ten things about the BVI Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022

8)Conyers. A Practical BVI Guide to Crypto, Tokens, and VASPs

9)Government of BVI. The Emergence of the British Virgin Islands as a Global Digital Assets Hub

10)Cointelegraph. Huobi wins a license in the British Virgin Islands, but there is no timeline for the UK yet

11)Loeb Smith. Critical factors for launching virtual assets business in BVI.

12)Enterslice. Tax Compliance.

Last update: November 2024

Articles

review

US Lawmakers Unite Against SEC as Crypto Regulations Tighten Globally

Overview of crypto regulation news in Spring 2024

article

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Short overview of available options to move Thai for crypto nomads

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New Digital Nomad Visas Overview

SWOT analysis for new digital nomad visas (Italy, South Africa, Turkey)

intro

Security level

According to our rating, the British Virgin Islands has a high danger security level. Homicide level (1) is 8.2 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

Crypto Salaries

We need more information about crypto salaries in BVA and their regulation. Please get in touch with us if you have this type of data.

Legal

Definition of VASP from Carey Olsen

According to Carey Olsen, any entity that wants to register as a VASP also must pay registration fees:

-US$10,000 for an application to provide Virtual Assets Custody Services

-US$10,000 for an application to operate a Virtual Assets Exchange

-US$5,000 for any other virtual assets services.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	0
PIT tax Max	0
Corporate tax (CIT)	0
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0

According to Loebsmith (11), BVI companies are not subject to “income, corporate, capital gains or wealth taxes, withholdings or other similar taxes” under BVI law.

Most personal income taxes are tax-free, according to Enterslice.

No direct personal taxes are levied in BVI. Personal income, capital gains, net worth, and inheritances are also exempt from taxes.

Payroll taxes at the rate of 8% can be refunded at the expense of the employees. In addition to the payroll taxes, social security is contributed by both employers and employees at the rate of 4.5%.

Links

1)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

8)Conyers. A Practical BVI Guide to Crypto, Tokens, and VASPs

9)Government of BVI. The Emergence of the British Virgin Islands as a Global Digital Assets Hub

10)Cointelegraph. Huobi wins a license in the British Virgin Islands, but there is no timeline for the UK yet

11)Loeb Smith. Critical factors for launching virtual assets business in BVI.

12)Enterslice. Tax Compliance.

Last update: November 2024