Bahamas Crypto: DARE Act & Zero Tax #26

Country facts

Bahamas crypto score

Trade and store crypto

DARE Act, zero personal tax, and SCB-licensed exchanges

FTX was a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund that was headquartered in the Bahamas and incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda. The exchange was founded in 2019 and, at its peak, had over one million users and was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. However, in November 2022, FTX faced a crisis when a CoinDesk article revealed that FTX’s partner firm Alameda Research held a significant portion of its assets in FTX’s native token (FTT). This led to a spike in customer withdrawals from FTX, which the exchange was unable to meet. Binance, a rival exchange, signed a letter of intent to acquire FTX, but later withdrew its offer citing reports of mishandled customer funds and ongoing investigations by US agencies. As a result, FTX entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US court system.

In December 2022, FTX’s CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested by the Bahamian authorities at the request of the US government for financial offenses. The current CEO of FTX is John J. Ray III, who has specialized in recovering funds from failed corporations. The collapse of FTX has had a significant impact on investors and the wider cryptocurrency market, and there have been numerous lawsuits and legal investigations related to the crisis. It is not clear how the Bahamas government has dealt with the collapse of FTX and the fallout from the crisis.

Tax on Bitcoin in The Bahamas

Part of the Bahamas’ crypto strategy mentioned above is allowing citizens to pay taxes using digital assets. Although this isn’t perhaps as radical as it sounds as the country is strongly promoting the usage of its own CDBC – and getting people to pay taxes always cheers governments up. The taxation of residents’ gains on trading crypto appears to be part of normal income tax reporting without specific crypto tax guidance.

Initial Coin Offerings – ICOs in The Bahamas

Initial Coin Offerings have gained mainstream acceptance around the world, but in the Bahamas, ICOs Initial Coin Offerings have been assessed fully by the Central Bank which sets out the criteria for sponsors and promoters of ICOs. Non-objection of the Central Bank must be obtained and if the ICO falls outside the scope of the regulated framework, the Central Bank may still object to the ICO on the basis that it poses an unmanageable risk to the SFI or The Bahamas.

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Blockchain community in The Bahamas

Despite its size and population Bahamas is an avid blockchain and crypto economy with many specialized courses available for the study of both. Crypto start-up companies spring up regularly and many deem this evocative country to become another pint-sized crypto hot spot, along with Malta. A leading crypto derivatives exchange moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas in September 2021. More crypto companies are bound to follow especially after the Prime Minster’s futurist crypto vision for the country.

Transparency and security of your bitcoin in The Bahamas

Countries with firm regulatory guidelines inevitably fare better than crypto economies without and the Bahamas, perhaps recognizing this, has completed two pieces of legislation that should move the country forward. The Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act, 2020 (the DARE Act) and the Financial and Corporate Service Providers Act, 2020 (the FCSP Act) both add confidence to overseas digital assets services providers looking to locate there. Registration of exchanges and greater safeguards over the protection and custody of digital assets are important Coincub ranking initiatives.

In addition to standing Anti-money laundering and fraud laws, new legislation will regulate the issue and sale of digital tokens in the Bahamas, providing a framework for the regulation of flat exchanges, wallet services, and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) generally. Accordingly, several leading exchanges are or were considering moving to the Bahamas, at least up until the time of writing/

Crypto regulation in Bahamas

Introduction to Bitcoin trading in The Bahamas

The Bahamas has long been a destination for mixing glamour with low taxes and being a hub for financial movers and players seeking to maximize their assets. It has over 400 banks, branches, or affiliates of overseas financial powerhouses and some eight of its homegrown ones making it a truly global banking hub. This position is to be maintained according to a statement by the country’s Prime Minister proposing that the Bahamas could also become the leading digital asset hub in the Caribbean at a recent crypto conference in Nassau. At the time of writing, there has been a worldwide collapse of crypto prices – but such dramatic drops and recoveries have happened before, of course.

A formal white paper points up the country’s digital asset strategy for the next few years which is to be achieved in varying degrees of collaboration and consultation with some heavyweight financial hitters such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Enabling residents to pay taxes in digital assets is one clear-cut proposal, so it’s safe to say the Bahamas, is a crypto and blockchain advocate. Worth knowing that the Central Bank of The Bahamas is one of the most progressive in terms of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Sand Dollar (cute!), nicknamed, was launched in 2020 and the Bank is working hard to gain wider acceptance and usage in the financial sector. Whether the Bahamas follows El Salvador and the Central African Republic in designating Bitcoin as legal tender is a whole step further down the road and it seems unlikely – especially at present.