Topic: What is the best country to start an exchange in? (Read 2984 times)

I would get in contact with a lawyer specialized in offshore companies and consider the options.

Ireland seems a good candidate too due to the lower than average taxes.

Liberia or Sealand.  Either polar pole.


Or even better still, in international waters.

Then we only need enough bitcoin to fend off this guy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

You would be incredibly easy to portray as someone who is purchasing heroin with BTC though.

Pakistan - no FinCEN shit!

Well, there is an exchange in Slovenia and it is doing quite well. Personally I find Amsterdam and The Netherlands a very good starting point for Bitcoins related business. Malta is a beautiful island, but....I don't know....Cyprus docet

+1

Maybe Iceland.

I thought i already ended this thread. 

This question was asked to a panel of lawyers at bitcoin2013. They said Malta is their best guess about the best jurisdiction to start an exchange. Followed, I believe, by Iceland. 
They also mentioned places seeking to be financial hubs, such as Hong Kong, Dubai, etc. 

Finland

Canada have been making friendly noises recently.

Alternatively India, for the business opportunity, beyond black market trading, remittance is really the killer AP ATM.

Launch a satellite which anyone can communicate with. Put an exchange server on it. Throw the shut down key away.

China

Cyprus definitely!  You don't even need to worry about overflowing funds, they do a haircut for you when you reach 100k Euros

In October 2012, the ECB defined Bitcoin as a virtual currency with a bidirectional flow. The ECB investigated Bitcoin in relation to risk for price and financial stability in the Euro zone. However, it underlines the reputation risk of Central Banks, if security incidents involve virtual currencies. For this reason, according to the ECB, transactions with virtual currencies should be under Central Bank responsibility. Despite the ECB definition, European legislation is far from been clear. Maybe Euro countries are waiting for Germany...

New Zealand!

Solid isolated economy, top ranked for business/entrepreneurness, current prime minister was a very successful currency trader before taking office (even donates his salary to charity). Kim.Com could even back it just to stir things up

The swiss do it the best ask Fedor lol

Such as Costa Rica?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_extradition_treaties

The ETF idea is a non-starter... here's a long discussion.

"So hey. I structure ETFs for a very large company.

A couple of three things: 1) The biggest issue you're going to run into is related to the concept of exemptive relief- that is, ETC (formerly a company called Faithshares, kind of funny) does not have the requisite permission from the SEC to launch non-index based products. Don't worry about making a bitcoin index, the SEC will only allow securities-based indices. Bitcoins, like all currencies, are not actually securities. 2) The best route for you would be a commodity pool built through the 19b-4 process, whereby you partner with an exchange to request permission from the SEC. Best case scenario this will take at least six months to get through, but honestly, you would not get through. 3) Seed is the last thing you should worry about. Lead market makers/IBs will put this up, provided you have (very) strong relationships with them. 4) Ok, serious here. The biggest issue is the lack of arbitragibility (not a word, but bear with me) between the ETF and the underlying bitcoins. This market is pathetically small and insanely illiquid. It simply is not a mature enough space to package into a product."

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/19hxuv/bitcoin_etf/

There are 2 other approaches to this...

(1)  Start a hedge fund with accredited investors. One exits in Malta. Google it.

(2)  Reverse takeover a junior company on the TSX or London Junior or Ireland...
But the Exchange MUST be reputable...
Use all the invested capital to buy/trade BTC...
But you will have to pay Management + Admin costs in the $500K range...
So you would need $5-10 million for this.

BitBox.mx is another compliant exchange in the US, though they are just now working to get solvent.

Doesn't it take 2 years to become a resident in Costa Rica? If you don't have a US citizenship in the meanwhile....what exactly happens?

Also, would just being a resident there be enough to get you a Costa Rica passport? How would you ever leave?