ST KITTS & NEVIS Law and Practice Contributed by: Dahlia Joseph Rowe and Daisy Joseph Andall, Joseph Rowe, Attorneys-at-Law
Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Antigua and Dominica signed a Memorandum of Understanding com - mitting to co-operate more closely on matters related to the Citizenship by Investment pro - gramme, including pricing. This new commit - ment should benefit the Caribbean CBI jurisdic - tions significantly, including St Kitts and Nevis, as the prior practice of reducing the minimum investment requirements to be competitive in the CBI market should be a thing of the past. The authors have not seen the real estate market in St Kitts and Nevis being adversely affected by rising inflation or increases in interest rates. To the contrary, the authors have seen an increase in real estate sales post-COVID-19. The authors have had buyers express that COVID-19 has shown that life is short and they would rather spend time in the Caribbean than in colder cli - mates. Whatever the motivation, the real estate market in St Kitts and Nevis has been doing fairly well post-COVID-19. Recent Developments • In 2019, the government of St Kitts and Nevis signed a deal with Medici Land Governance, Overstock.com’s blockchain subsidiary, to use blockchain and other technologies to incorporate high-resolution aerial images of the Federation into the Land Registry in developing a cadastral survey system. How - ever, to the authors’ knowledge, this project has not been completed. • In January 2020, the government passed the Virtual Assets Act. However, at present, licensing pursuant to the Act has been sus - pended. • On 31 March 2021, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) launched the ECCB DCash Project in St Kitts and Nevis. DCash was the first digital currency to be used by a monetary union. The DCash Pilot platform
operations were closed on 12 January 2024. The ECCB has announced that it will be tran - sitioning to DCash 2.0, “a more advanced and user-friendly version” of its digital currency service. DCash is a blockchain-based, central bank-issued digital currency, which allows persons to complete transactions using a digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar. Use of Disruptive Technologies It is expected that the emergence of blockchain, decentralised finance (DeFi), proptech and other disruptive technologies would improve the func - tions of real estate investors, developers and lenders. However, since the concept of disrup - tive technology is still relatively new, these tech - nologies have yet to emerge as a preferred or even often-used alternative in St Kitts and Nevis. Cryptocurrency is, however, accepted by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) as a valid currency for investment. An applicant is simply required to provide documentation in support of the ownership of their cryptocurrency wallet and provide the USD value of the wallet. In the event the applicant is unable to provide a wallet, they may provide the following for consideration by the CIU: • a letter from a cryptocurrency stock exchange, or other institution that provides digital assets services. The letter should be similar to a bank reference letter (stating the applicant’s name and address and the period of time the applicant has been a customer); and • the applicant’s account summary which sets out the cryptocurrency held and the equiva - lent USD value. Once the applicant is approved, they would be required to convert the cryptocurrency to USD
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