Vanuatu and Cryptocurrency
VanuatuĀ Cryptocurrency Laws
Regulation of Digital Currencies: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoins, Blockchain Technology
In October 2017 a number of news media outlets reported that Vanuatu would allow people to use cryptocurrency to pay the fee to obtain Vanuatu citizenship as part of its citizenship investment program.[770] However, the Citizenship Office subsequently denied this, saying that there was no legal confirmation on the use of cryptocurrencies for this purpose and all payments were required to be in US dollars.[771]
No other government statements or regulatory actions were located.
P.S. Insights on Cryptocurrency Legal Issues
Most jurisdictions and authorities have yet to enact laws governing cryptocurrencies, meaning that, for most countries, the legality of crypto mining remains unclear.
Under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), crypto miners are considered money transmitters, so they may be subject to the laws that govern that activity. In Israel, for instance, crypto mining is treated as a business and is subject to corporate income tax. In India and elsewhere, regulatory uncertainty persists, although Canada and the United States are relatively friendly to crypto mining.
However, apart from jurisdictions that have specifically banned cryptocurrency-related activities, very few countries prohibit crypto mining.
Our Freeman Law Cryptocurrency Law Resource page provides a summary of the legal status of cryptocurrency for each country across the globe with statutory or regulatory provisions governing cryptocurrency. Ā The globe below provides links to country-by-country summaries:
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- Legal Issues Surrounding Cryptocurrency
- Cryptocurrency and Bankruptcy
- Cryptocurrency Transactions: Multi-Signature Arrangements Explained
- Cryptographic Hash Functions
- Distributed Ledgers The technology behind Blockchain brings business opportunities and legal complexities
- Hard and Soft Forks: A Detailed and Simplified Explanation of How Blockchains Evolve
- Hash Collisions Explained
- IRS Cryptocurrency Taxation: What you Need to Know in 2020
- Merkle Trees
- Mining Explained: A Detailed Guide on How Cryptocurrency Mining Works
- Preimage Resistance, Second Preimage Resistance, and Collision Resistance
- Quantum Supremacyās Potential Impact on Cryptocurrencies
- SHA-256
- Smart Contracts
- The History of the Blockchain and Bitcoin
- Blockchain Attacks: Is No One Safe in the World of Cryptocurrencies?
- Cryptographic Hash Algorithms: An Introduction
- Overview of the Most Common Cryptocurrencies
- Double-Spending Problem and Byzantine Generalās Problem in Relation to Cryptocurrency
- IRS Cryptocurrency Taxation: What you Need to Know in 2020
- Permission and Permissionless Blockchains
- The Tor Network
- Turing Completeness and cryptocurrency
- Cryptography: Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
- Blockchain Attacks: Is No One Safe in the World of Cryptocurrencies?
- Decentralized Governance Mechanisms
- The Dark Web and the Deep Web
- The Most Common Cryptocurrencies
- Anti-Collusion | What Is Obfuscation?
- What Is Post-Quantum Cryptography?
Podcast:
Is cryptocurrency legal in Vanuatu?
Do you have questions about cryptocurrency, digital currencies, or blockchain technology? Freeman Law can help with digital currencies, tax planning, and tax compliance. Ā Contact us now or Schedule a consultation or call (214) 984-3410 to discuss your cryptocurrency and blockchain technology concerns.
[770] See, e.g., Echo Huang & Tripti Lahiri, A Small Pacific Island Will Now Let You Pay for Citizenship with Bitcoin, Quartz (Oct. 11, 2017), https://qz.com/1099475/a-small-pacific-island-will-now-let-you-buy-citizenship-with-bitcoin/, archived athttps://perma.cc/9G89-BXVR; Bitcoin Can Buy You Vanuatu Citizenship, Radio New Zealand (Oct. 10, 2017), http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/341258/bitcoin-can-buy-you-vanuatu-citizenship, archived at https://perma.cc/MLM2-KR47.
[771] Vanuatu Govt Steps Away from Bitcoin Payments, Radio New Zealand (Oct. 19, 2017), https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/341894/vanuatu-govt-steps-away-from-bitcoin-payments, archived athttps://perma.cc/9K9L-RG3M; Ben Moshinsky, Vanuatu Denies it Will Accept Bitcoin for its $200,000 Citizenship Program, Business Insider (Oct. 18, 2017), http://www.businessinsider.com/vanuatu-accepts-bitcoin-for-citizenship-payment-2017-10, archived athttps://perma.cc/5MPC-RHWW.