This reminded me of Bitnation.
Also, it isn't unrelated to some thoughts I had about wealthy people and Citizenship some time ago.
I do believe that Citizenship is going to be a commodity before long.
Fascinating. It almost seems like a move to get more businesses in Estonia - note the focus on entrepreneurship in their leaflet. I wonder what "sign all documents" really means - who would recognize a digitally-signed-and-Estonian-verified document? And what exactly is "[doing] the banking"?
Hmmm. I hear Estonian women are quite striking . . . While I appreciate the brevity of the entries on the site, I am curious about the legitimacy and ramifications of this. For example, will other countries recognize this status? If so, how might it impact relations with my own government?
It's a good question. There were some recent articles about American expats renouncing their citizenship as the IRS has reached out to Americans living abroad: US citizenship has long been a desirable status. Will that change as countries compete for the monied and mobile? The US has been selling residency for some time. But what does it have to offer? Wealthy people aren't looking for equal opportunity.If a foreign bank – not just in Canada, but anywhere – fails to report even a single US citizen as a customer to the IRS, the US Treasury department would withhold 30% of the banks’ US income as penalty.
I don't know if you read that thing about the proposed pied-a-terre tax that NYC is proposing, but it does seem like it would address some of the issues that the city is facing. In general, I have the feeling that breaking down borders is one way to resolve the financial fuckery that seems to be in fashion for both monied individuals and corporations. This E-Estonia thing seems to want to contribute to that financial fuckery, which I might be fine with if I knew how to take advantage of it, but I don't. I was recently chastised for not having a 401k, which I can understand, though I will say that I did feel obligated to at least try to find a way to exist outside of the confusing and convoluted financial beast the "developed" world rides astride.
I'm not too sure, but from their leaflet I get the impression that there isn't much, unless you work/study/visit there:As an e-resident you can use and enjoy the same great digital services that allow Estonians
to do anything and everything digitally–sign all documents, launch and manage companies, do the banking, encrypt files, etc. For a closer look on how the digital way of life goes in Estonia: http://e-estonia.com/. It is especially useful for entrepreneurs and others who already have some relationship to Estonia: who do business, work, study or visit here but have not become a resident. However, e-residency is also launched as a platform to offer digital services to a global audience with no prior Estonian affiliation – for anybody who wants to run their business and life
in the most convenient aka digital way!