Ex-convict cum bitcoin evangelist calls the rich to island paradise
Bitcoin evangelist's website offers new passport and near-zero taxes with swipe of a smartphone
He is known as Bitcoin Jesus in the world of cyber-currencies. Though he cannot promise you heaven, he is offering a haven: a condominium in the Caribbean that comes with a new passport and almost zero taxes.
The ever-expanding universe of what you can buy with bitcoins includes a hotel stay in Rome, a kimono in Tokyo, and cable television in the US. Ver, a pioneer investor in bitcoin start-ups, now says he can add citizenship to the list.
Specifically, that is the right to live in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis - two sun-kissed islands a three-hour flight from Miami - that has run an invest-and-become-a-citizen programme since 1984.
Put down US$400,000 for property and you get a passport that allows visa-free travel to 120 countries. There are no taxes on personal income or capital gains and the islands' disclosure laws offer shelter from outside scrutiny, according to the Tax Justice Network, a think tank that studies jurisdictions offering secrecy.
Ver's website, in English, Russian and Chinese, offers a way to buy a piece of that paradise with bitcoins. He says it will help people who are hemmed in by government restrictions on cash transactions.