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Liberation Travel Hacks 09/2025
Dear friends,
Greetings from Belgrade, where I have just successfully opened a non-CRS bank account in Euros, Dollars, and Dinars that doesn't spy or send anything to anyone. Serbia became part of SEPA this year, and from May next year, it will be possible to send/receive SEPA transactions to the EU from Serbian banks. At the same time, Serbia has not signed (and is not planning to) the CRS spying legislation. As a result, from next year, you can set up corporate bank accounts in Serbian banks for your offshore / US LLC companies and receive SEPA transactions from your European customers. And that's without the disgusting CRS reporting. And of course, we will help you with everything and open your personal or business account remotely!
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The demand for non-CRS, non-snooping accounts is enormous in the EU (I have four Paraguayan, two Kyrgyz, and one Serbian accounts alone), especially in a situation where Slovak residents are now threatened to pay 41% tax on crypto to the local Slovak mafia government. And in other EU countries, it is similar.
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Unfortunately, if you are an EU tax resident, you are obliged to declare and pay taxes on worldwide income, regardless of whether the tax office can find out about it or not.
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The new Slovak 2026 tax consolidation package - the special 35% tax for productive people and the new 16% health levy really "pleasantly" surprised me - Slovakia is literally poised to become a beautiful agorist society, full of cash and untaxed transactions. Already, the option to pay "without invoice", "by cash only" is working all around me. I'm even already being offered this option by completely random people I've never met.
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My Slovak friends - victims of the Slovak health system, who pay a sixth of their income in health insurance and another third in taxes - just look sadly at the price of my global health insurance of EUR 160 per month, which covers me all over the world (except in the USA) for the complete cost of my hospitalisation, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Not only do they pay quite a lot more, but they also have poor access to healthcare, and they are still paying for everything.
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The governing coalition wants to squeeze something more out of the few corporations and their employees who cannot avoid high taxes and levies before the end of their term.
They do not give a damn about the future of Slovakia - no one normal in Slovakia will be doing business, paying taxes, or levying taxes anymore. The clever people and companies that have left Slovakia or are in the process of leaving will soon not be returning there.
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At Liberation Travel, we have helped hundreds of innovative, productive, and wealthy people leave Slovakia. We are constantly being contacted by numerous people who want to cancel their permanent residence, and if not leave outright, at least stay living in Slovakia, so that they have no official income, live on a crypto loan, and pay no more taxes or levies.
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And this is done not only by libertarians or anarchists, but by desperate ordinary people who believe in democracy, who find the current situation really unfair, and who no longer see any other way to change the system for the better with their democratic vote.
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Being a tax resident of Slovakia is a terrible deal, and I wonder where the tax or regulatory ceiling is for the Slovaks to tolerate it still.
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So far, it looks like they can tolerate anything.
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Pavol Lupták, 16.9.2025, Belgrade
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EU
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On totalitarian EU "Chat Control" - blanket spying on EU citizens' messages (or banning end-to-end encrypted communications) - the proposal is due in a month. A majority of EU member states support it. The EU Council is due to vote on 14 October on a controversial "spying" law that would allow widespread monitoring of chats. So far, only a few countries have clearly opposed the Danish presidency's proposal.
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You should know that there is an exception; the proposal does apply to your communications, but it does not apply to the communications of politicians, police officers, soldiers, or any government accounts used for "national security, public order maintenance, or military purposes", which are exempt from scanning chats and messages. In the EU, we are 'all equal' and it seems that some are even more 'equal'.
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Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland have come out against the Chat-Control legislation. On the contrary, Slovakia and Hungary SUPPORT this proposal. That's all you need to know about your politicians today.
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Even though "Chat-Control" is a truly dystopian proposal for EU legislation, I am saddened that virtually no mainstream media in the EU is publicly reporting on it. American privacy non-profits, such as EFF, are reporting it. This is a great shame for all European press.
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The American organisation Thorn has a significant interest in the approval of the controversial proposal on chat control. It is one of the leading suppliers of scanning software that could be used if the proposal is approved. The EU Ombudsman has already dealt with the pressure exerted by Thorn.
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To argue that the EU is not evil after all, this is an entirely legitimate democratic process where EU member states decide whether or not to ban end-to-end encrypted communications in the EU, which is on the level of a Europe-wide vote on whether or not Jews should wear a yellow star in the EU.
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Totalitarian practices, and this is a real totalitarian practice in the digital world, are not voted on!
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How would you feel about the EU if the Member States now democratically voted on whether or not Jews should wear the yellow star? And the proposed legislation is all the worse because it will be applied across the board to the entire population of the EU. It's severe - the EU is really flirting with digital totalitarianism, like they have in China, for example. Most importantly, it will not work at all:
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The EU will force Apple/Google to throw out of their application repositories all end-to-end encrypted messengers that refuse to deploy backdoors (Signal, Threema, SimpleX, and others).
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Only those that will comply with EU legislation, i.e., snoop and eavesdrop on communications across the board, will remain. 95% of all users will use these leaky, snooping, but EU-compliant apps that they will be able to install easily. 5% or more experienced users will install from 3rd-party repositories (F-Droid, Accrescent, Obtanium), secure encryption apps that will still allow end-to-end encryption.
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- Which user group will all the terrorists, criminals, paedophiles, and others for whom the EU pushed this spying legislation fall into?
- Which of these groups will be most at risk?
- What is the likelihood that blanket spying on citizens will be abused, vs. being able to solve any serious crime?
- France has passed an amendment to a law that will make its citizens pay taxes on global income if they move to a region where taxes are 50% lower than in France.
- The Netherlands has proposed a new exit tax for citizens leaving the country to pay income taxes (and probably capital gains taxes) for 5 years after leaving the country.
- Spain already taxes its citizens on global income for four additional years if they move to a country classified as a "tax haven." Germany, Norway, and the UK will also soon start taxing their citizens globally.
UK
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The situation in the UK regarding online privacy is getting worse. In the following video, learn how the UK requires platforms to verify the identity of their users to "protect children", and how platforms are blocking the use of VPNs and proxy servers. If UK users want to consume content, they will have to prove their identity first. The age verification will ruin their Internet.
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- Criminalize VPN vendors who do not verify age when purchasing a VPN.
- It automatically means banning anonymous VPNs and VPNs that can be bought with cryptocurrencies (without age verification).
- Criminalize anyone (including me) who publishes information about anonymous VPNs and how age restrictions can be circumvented.
I used to have a problem comparing Chinese digital totalitarianism to Western digital totalitarianism.
With Lagarde publicly admiring China and the ECB signing a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with China and the real threat of a ban on end-to-end encrypted messengers (Chat Control), I know that the Western world is hurtling into digital totalitarianism at full speed.
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Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein is the best example of what a truly decentralised Europe would look like without nation-states and the centralised moloch of the EU.
A country without mineral wealth, with high mountains that was literally riddled with poverty a hundred years ago. A country where low taxes and freedom of enterprise kick-started the economy and enabled Liechtenstein to become the wealthiest and safest country in the world, with the most innovative and most productive people. A country that does not just offer services, but where strong industrial companies of a world-class nature have actually emerged:
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- Hilti AG - a world-famous manufacturer of assembly technology and construction tools.
- Hilcona AG - a food company known for the production of ready meals and semi-finished products.
- ThyssenKrupp Presta AG - a major player in the automotive industry, manufacturing components for steering wheels and vehicle steering.
- Neutrik AG - a specialist in connectors and audio technology, well-known in the global music and event industries.
- LGT Group - the largest private bank in Liechtenstein, owned by the princely family, specialising in wealth management.
Liechtenstein has a guaranteed right to secession in its constitution, allowing each of its villages to declare independence or join a neighboring country in the event of dissatisfaction.
Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein describes himself as a libertarian, particularly in areas such as limiting state intervention, promoting self-government, and upholding personal freedom. His key book is a political study entitled The State in the Third Millennium, in which he advocates the ideas of limited government, democracy based on individual liberty, and the role of the state as a service to citizens, not the other way around.
The people of Liechtenstein do not like their politicians, but they love their prince. In a referendum in 2003, they approved an extension of their prince's rights, allowing him, for example, to dismiss the government, appoint judges, and veto laws. This proposal was supported by 64.32% of voters, while an alternative proposal to limit the power of the prince was rejected by 83.44% of the voters.
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If the nation-oriented states in Europe were to break up into city-states, I'm convinced that many places in Europe could look like Liechtenstein. I am also confident that this is a guaranteed recipe for a significant increase in the standard of living of all Europeans.
Through a socialist, centrally controlled EU that kills the competitiveness of countries, taxes everything that moves, and subsidises what no longer moves, it certainly will not.
But I knew all this about Liechtenstein before.
What I didn't know was that Liechtenstein has stunning mountains. The Liechtenstein Alps look like the Swiss or Austrian Alps, but with significantly fewer tourists. Perhaps it's because Liechtenstein is already so wealthy that it no longer needs to promote tourism heavily.
I spent four wonderful days hiking in the Liechtenstein Alps. We also climbed the highest mountain, Grauspitz, which is the three-border point between Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein.
Every day we saw beautiful peaks, forests, lakes, and really minimal people. We had no problem parking anywhere; many parking lots were even completely free.
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Serbia
I managed to open a non-CRS non-reporting bank account in Serbia, which I am currently testing. So far, just in a nutshell, seven benefits of a Serbian bank account:
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- Serbia has not signed and does not plan to sign the CRS (Common Reporting Standard), which requires the reporting of bank account information outside Serbia.
- Instead, it has signed SEPA, and from May 2026, it will be possible to make SEPA transfers from Serbian banks. Therefore, your EU customers will be able to make inexpensive SEPA transfers to your non-reporting account, which has been opened at your offshore company.
- In Serbia, it is possible to open bank accounts not only for individuals, but also for foreign companies (!). There is no such possibility in Georgia or Kyrgyzstan. And even US LLC companies can open an account.
- Bank accounts for both individual persons and foreign companies can be opened entirely remotely based on a power of attorney (we are working on it). And even for companies that are not connected to Serbia.
- Serbian banks are cheap, so they have low tariffs.
- Multi-currency account in EUR/USD/CHF/RSD and other currencies.
- Possibility of private banking.
Kyrgyzstan
New legislation has been introduced in Kyrgyzstan, making it impossible to purchase local SIM cards by proxy. We are analyzing other ways to open local bank accounts without a local mobile number.
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Panama
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My friend Peter Beshina, a long-time resident of Panama, has launched a unique project to buy and sell real estate in Panama with cryptocurrencies. For a 3% referral fee, they will verify the source of your crypto, guide you through the KYC process, and enable you to buy property in Panama (apartments, luxury homes, land, marinas).
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If you're interested, I'll put you in touch with Peter at Signal.
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Paraguay
Bitcoin, Monero, and cryptocurrencies
In all these countries, you have to be tax resident (usually live there most of the time, have a center of life interests):
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Czech Republic - If you hold crypto for more than 3 years, you can pay a maximum of 40M CZK/year tax-free, alternatively, if you have an income of less than 100k CZK/year.
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Germany - if you hold crypto for more than 12 months. Staking is, of course, income that you tax. Germany is ultra-bureaucratic, so changing your tax residency there because of crypto might not be the best idea.
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Portugal - if you hold crypto for more than 12 months and it is not your primary income. Crypto trading is taxed at a rate of 28%.
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Andorra - you really can't imagine living there most of the time.
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Malta - You can apply as a Paraguayan tax resident for non-domiciled status and only pay taxes on income earned in Malta, even if you reside there for most of the time.
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Georgia and Armenia are the least bureaucratic, but you need to live there most of the time.
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If you don't want to live anywhere more than 6 months a year (like me), the best tax residency for crypto owners is still Paraguay.
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Frank Braun: Buying one bitcoin today is the equivalent of buying a house in the 1980s. You buy it, you do nothing, and you get rich. And the world will go to hell, and the next generation will hate you. Or how do we separate money and state with a transparent ledger?
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The vision of the cypherpunks behind Bitcoin was clearly electronic cash for private payments between individuals. The notion of "digital assets" came later from others. Strangely, it's controversial at all.
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Privacy
Travel Hacks
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I bought a new Garmin Phoenix 8 Pro watch, which is the only watch in the world that can do LTE + satellite communications (literally a "must" on my more challenging treks). I've tested it and it's really cool! I can send and receive messages via satellite directly to my watch (which I need to calibrate to have visibility to the satellites gently). It's not free, but it works - the InReach service is used for satellite communication, and you can find a comparison of paid plans here. I got the highest plan in the trial version. You can install the Garmin Messenger app for your loved ones, and they'll be able to contact you anywhere in Europe or North America, even if you're completely out of cell signal.
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They also exist in a MICROLED version, and they boast that they are the brightest and best visible in bright sunlight (unfortunately, in this case, the battery lasts half as long). My Garmin Phoenix 8 Pro's AMOLED display is beautifully bright and readable, though, so I'm glad I didn't opt for the MICROLED version. You can find an excellent comparison here.
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For privacy extremists, there is also a military, special, secure version of the Tactix 8 (with a "Stealth" mode where you are invisible), unfortunately, it doesn't yet exist in a Pro version with LTE/satellite communication support.
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SpareFare is an online platform that connects people who have bought a ticket or booked a hotel but can no longer use it with people looking for flight deals and discounted hotel rooms.
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For me, the bicycle represents the most incredible freedom of movement and independence from other people or means of transport.
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Interesting links
- Please don't set it up in the EU.
- Work for clients who will pay you in crypto.
- Start from scratch (bootstrap), don't look for investors, don't ask for money.
Events
3-5.10.2025 Dark Prague in Prague (continuation of HCPP)
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