The "happiest country in the world" opens its arms to 50 Bitcoin investment immigrants

Last week, the media missed a big Bitcoin news: a country with a highly trusted passport set a global precedent by accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for investment immigration.

This country is Vanuatu, a South Pacific island country that was named the "happiest country in the world" by the British think tank New Economics Foundation as early as 2006. According to the latest happiness index score given by the think tank based on factors such as national life expectancy and the gap between the rich and the poor, it currently ranks fourth in the world.

The following pictures of Vanuatu are from the Vanuatu Tourism Board.

Last week, Investment Migration Insider, a website focusing on investment immigration, published an announcement from Vanuatu’s agency that processes citizenship applications, saying it had received government approval to accept Bitcoin payments for its investment immigration program.

This means that Vanuatu has become the first country in the world to accept cryptocurrency immigration.

James Harris, an official representative of Vanuatu's investment immigration program, told financial new media Quartz in an email that the position of cryptocurrency trading in global finance will be solid, and Vanuatu's investment immigration program has reason to respond.

Harris said:

“We understand that a large number of Bitcoin investors have significant returns, and we are creating a channel for investors to realize part of their returns and transform their cryptocurrency holdings into valuable personal assets in the future.”

Currently, the cost of investment immigration to Vanuatu is US$280,000, and data from the Bitcoin trading platform Bitstamp shows that the Bitcoin trading price once rose above US$5,800 on Friday and advanced towards US$5,900.

Even if converted based on the Bitcoin trading price of more than $5,600 at the time of writing, it would only cost about 50 Bitcoins to obtain Vanuatu citizenship through investment immigration.

Is it worthwhile to exchange 50 bitcoins for a Vanuatu passport? This answer is a matter of opinion.

The latest passport index score released by Canadian financial consulting firm Arton Capital shows that Vanuatu's passport score ranks 34th in the world.

Vanuatu's immigration department said that its citizens can travel to 118 countries and regions around the world without a visa, including China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and other EU countries.

Vanuatu Tourism said there is no personal income tax, inheritance tax or corporate tax in the country, and even no custom of tipping. It only takes about three and a half hours to fly from Sydney to the capital, Port Vila.

Bitcoin continues to soar despite continued doubts

The new regulations on Bitcoin investment in the "happiest country in the world" show that the status of digital currencies supported by blockchain technology is becoming increasingly important.

The current bitcoin trading price has more than quintupled since the beginning of the year. Financial leaders have different views on bitcoin, with some strongly criticizing it, others open to it, and others eager to participate in the transaction directly.

Last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called cryptocurrencies a "scam" and said any trader who trades Bitcoin should be fired for being stupid. He also cited China as an example, saying that "national governments will always have control over the money supply."

In the same month, Marko Kolanovic, head of JPMorgan Chase's global quantitative and derivatives strategy department, nicknamed "Gandalf of Wall Street", released a research report, characterizing Bitcoin as a pyramid scheme. He believed that Bitcoin could not be accurately valued without the support of the "real economy" and was vulnerable to regulatory crackdowns or bans.

With Dimon's bearish remarks, Bitcoin once fell below $3,800 last month. Wall Street News later mentioned that Dimon is the "shadow president of Wall Street" who frequently goes in and out of Washington after Trump took office. Whether his remarks represent a shift in the US regulatory attitude is worth speculating. (For more views, see "Reading the News | "Shadow President of Wall Street" speaks better than the government? What is the pain of Bitcoin?")

However, Bitcoin has rebounded strongly this month, and has basically recovered all the losses since Dimon called Bitcoin a scam and China closed Bitcoin exchanges at the beginning of this month.

Earlier this month, the media also broke the news that Goldman Sachs was considering trading in digital currencies such as Bitcoin, becoming the first Wall Street giant to prepare to directly trade digital currencies.

Interestingly, Dimon publicly stated on Thursday that he would no longer comment on Bitcoin, after which Bitcoin rose above $5,300, setting a new record. The next day, Dimon “unbanned” himself, saying that if you are stupid enough to buy Bitcoin, you will pay the price one day.

But as Bitcoin broke through $5,800 on Friday, its market value exceeded $90 billion for the first time, leaving Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs behind and becoming the 15th largest component of the Nasdaq by market value.