Crypto is more than just currency. It's a lifestyle too. Become a global citizen, a digital nomad. Live where you want, work when you want, with whoever you want. Live with a small team of friends for a couple of months working on a project, then get out and see the world while you make money on the blockchain.
Many people find the place they are living in is less than ideal for a full-time, year round cryptocurrency lifestyle. Some countries allow it, some countries completely ban it, and some encourage it. One country is going further, determined to be the world's ICO haven and encouraging citizens from all over the planet to get an e-residency and become crypto-token cyber-citizens.
When Greece was entrapped in the middle of a financial crisis in 2015, there was a serious proposal floated to convert their whole economy to BitCoin. If they had done that, at a July 2015 BitCoin price of $277.84 not only would they have paid off their national debt, but the Greek people would be the richest in the world right now. GDP per Capita was $18,000 USD, about the value of 1 BitCoin today. It would have gone to $1.17 million, 10 times bigger than the leading nation Luxembourg.
Now Estonia wants to be the first country to issue their own Crypto-token. They are part of the European Union and therefore only allowed to have one currency, the Euro. In the eyes of Estonia, and many other tech-savvy nations, tokens are not currency. Which means the booming ICO industry will flock to their jurisdisiction, and they can trade in Euros and at the same time issue a new token called estcoin.
Estonia's e-Residency created their own digital society, the cyber-nation of e-Estonia, made up of 27,600 people from 151 countries. According to WorldAtlas, that makes them the 4th smallest country in the world, a little smaller than Monaco and Liechtenstein.
E-Residents have brought €14.4 million back to Estonia in the first three years of the program, predicted to rise to €1.8 billion by 2025. Economically, that would make e-Estonia about the size of Belize
GDP ($US billion)
For 100 Euros, you can apply for an e-residency yourself and join the new digital nation. I signed up today, it only takes a few minutes but there's a big waiting list for processing.
e-Residents can then start and manage a company in the cyber nation 100% online in the most competitive tax environment in the OECD.
Estonia e-Residency Managing Director Kaspar Korjus wants his country to be a "haven for ICOs". He told Medium:
"We’re working to make e-Residency the best option globally for entrepreneurs launching a trusted ICO, while proceeding with three variants of our own ‘estcoin’ under consideration"
It sounds like he gets the current ICO mania. Whitepapers don't matter! Just buy the coins, any coins, whatever they do!
"What problem does estcoin solve for people who hold estcoins? This is another key and commonly repeated criticism of the proposal that estcoin is ‘a solution looking for a problem’. Since the proposal was published, I’ve been repeatedly asking audiences if they would be interested in purchasing estcoins and the response is a resounding yes, even if they are not always sure why yet."
They also have fully digitized healthcare and they decriminalized the recreational use of marijuana - they also have a medical marijuana policy.
See y'all in Estonia! Or should I say, e-stoner...
This is so interesting! Estonia has been on my travel list for a long time and I think it may have just been bumped up the list!
It's an interesting way to gain access to the EU single market and legal system. I'll be keen to follow how this pans out in the future.
Thanks for the info!
E-stoner...witty!
This is very interesting. I've always felt the nations of the world will start adopting crypto and doing exactly what Estonia seems to be doing. Can't wait to see what the future holds.
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