Country overview

#105
Vanuatu

Country stats

Rating Points
125
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%
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
80
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
3 300
Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.
Taxation points
35
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
Legally allowed
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
Moderate 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
Medium
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
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.
ICO/STO
This indicator describes legal procedures for token sales and security token issuance. This country has a clear regulation framework and licensing procedures for entities that provide this activity.
Fintech
This indicator means that in a given country, companies with fintech licenses (financial services) can legally transact with crypto assets and the country has appropriate licensing procedures.
Good
Medium
Bad
intro

This is general info about crypto regulation in Vanuatu. 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

Vanuatu is a country located in the Pacific Ocean. Based on Wikipedia (1) it has an area of 12,000 km² with about 80 islands archipelago and a population of 336,000 people. According to VisaHQ (2) citizens of 120 countries do not require a visa to Vanuatu. The maximum number of days of stay in the country for citizens of different states ranges from 30 to 90 days.

Vanuatu (3) also has a special investment program, which allows its members to get citizenship. To join this program you need to donate to the special state fund $130,000. Local immigration consulting companies accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

There are several grounds for obtaining a residence permit (4) in Vanuatu: 

-Marriage or relationship with resident of Vanuatu

-Work permit 

-Investment in the economy 

-Business visa

-Long-term rent contract

Security level

Vanuatu has a moderate danger security level according to our rating. The homicide level (5) is 0.3 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

In October 2017 local news media outlets reported that Vanuatu would allow people to use cryptocurrency to pay the fee to obtain Vanuatu (6) citizenship as part of its citizenship investment program. However, the Citizenship (7) Office subsequently denied this, claiming that there was no legal confirmation on the use of cryptocurrencies for this purpose and all payments were required to be in US dollars. 

Crypto Salaries

No regulation.

Legal

Vanuatu has adopted a progressive approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. In 2018, it introduced the Financial Dealers License (FDL) (8) and Vanuatu Financial Service Commission (VFSC) is the main regulator which grant this type of license. In 2021 it has added to this fintech regulation framework Class D license (9) which allows virtual asset service provider (VASP) activity and in February 2023 the regulator was going to provide new version of legislation including implementation of travel rule and special rules for NFT providers and stablecoins issuers. However, we don’t have information that these changes are implemented. So for now the previous FDL regulations are in power, which allow crypto exchange, custodian (wallet), and sale of virtual assets (ICO).

Taxation

Based on ImmigrantInvest (10), there are no taxes on personal income, inheritance, capital gains, and capital exports for individuals. The personal overseas income is totally tax-free. Also, there are some tax benefits for legal entities: for example, companies can be exempt from corporate and other taxes for 20 years. The VAT in Vanuatu is 12,5%

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