A crypto haven off the coast of Vanuatu
Bitcoin Island could soon be a real place. A British property investor plans to turn a South Pacific idyll into a bitcoin investor’s paradise.
For the past decade, retired property developer Anthony Welch and his partner, Theresa, have made the 300-hectare island their home. It is part of the Vanuatu archipelago between Australia and Fiji.
The couple plan to turn an island called Lataro into Satoshi Island. It’s 90% virgin forest, but it will become a “sustainable smart city”. It will feature multi-storey buildings and offices.
“We’re trying to build community,” Welch told the Guardian via satellite link from the island. The little paradise currently has no electricity, water, telephone or internet connection. “We are not trying to grow and make a profit.”
He says he was approached by new partners who had seen his island advertised for sale on a private island real estate site.
Welch then took the island off the market and worked with the couple to further develop the plan.
“The crypto haven they want to build is a really cool idea. It’s a wonderful use of a place we were able to live in for 12 years,” Welch said.
“The team had been working for some time to find a location. The key issue was trying to find a government that…would allow a corporation to exist on crypto transactions. Most countries in the world want to collect taxes. Therefore, they don’t want crypto transactions because they can’t monitor what’s going on. Vanuatu has no income tax of any kind.
Bitcoin Island Investors
The trio promises 21,000 investors that Bitcoin Island “will become the home of crypto professionals and enthusiasts. It aims to be considered the crypto capital of the world.
However, Welch’s plans mark something of a U-turn. In a previous attempt to sell the island for $12 million in 2017, Lataro was described as an ecological paradise. “It is covered in dense tropical forests, as well as a wonderful array of flora and fauna.”
Indeed, the Welch family even went so far as to ask the local Vanuatu government to declare the island a wildlife sanctuary. This was to “prevent the extinction” of the rare coconut crab.
The Satoshi Island Project is the latest scheme to attract crypto holders to the region. Palau is about 5,000 km northeast of Vanuatu. The president plans to launch the world’s first government-backed national stablecoin by the end of this year.
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