The Strategist

British Virgin Islands to create their own cryptocurrency



12/05/2019 - 08:33



The British Virgin Islands will launch their own cryptocurrency and tie it to the dollar. The territory has one of the most favorable legislation regarding digital currencies, which has made the islands a haven for several large crypto companies.



Foreign and Commonwealth Office via flickr
Foreign and Commonwealth Office via flickr
Overseas territory of the United Kingdom Virgin Islands will launch its cryptocurrency, according to Bloomberg. Now the islands use the US dollar as the currency, not the British pound. As planned, one digital cryptocurrency token will be equal in value to one dollar. The local government, along with the startup Lifelabs.io, has already started implementing the technology, the agency writes.

The islands are one of the most liberal in relation to virtual currency legislation in the world, said Bloomberg. The issuer of one of the world's most used digital currencies pegged to the dollar, Tether, and the Bitfinex exchange are registered on the territory. This makes the Virgin Islands one of the world's largest cryptocurrency markets in dollar terms, the agency adds, citing asset management company CoinShares.

The rules for economic presence for foreign companies came into force in this popular offshore zone on January 1. The rules are supposed to tighten the registration of one-day firms. The European Union demanded this, threatening otherwise to include the countries that refused to cooperate in the black list. A transitional period was provided for companies until December 31.

source: bloomberg.com