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Liberation Travel Hacks 06/2024
Just as I used to winter in Argentina every November (especially in Buenos Aires), I regularly spend May and June in Central Europe. Not only is the weather there the best of the year, but there are also excellent international crypto conferences. On this occasion, I noticed an interesting practical phenomenon—my minimalist wardrobe is the same all year round; I just change countries.
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This newsletter, like the previous one, will have a slightly dystopian flavor.
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Fortunately, we still have privacy technologies and decentralized cryptocurrencies that allow us to armor ourselves against the coming dystopia and create our own parallel and free world. This is precisely what filmmakers Martin Piga and Tereza Tokárová decided to make an independent, non-commercial documentary about - the search for freedom through parallel structures. Their filmmaking ability to highlight the fundamental ideas of freedom made me happy because there are woefully few documentaries about freedom at the moment. And since any good documentary should be primarily funded voluntarily by the people who want to see it or the people who want this documentary to exist in the future, they've just started a community fundraiser to complete it.
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Pavol Lupták, 6.6.2024, Beroun
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EU
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The ACAB slogan is becoming relevant again. The fight against end-to-end encrypted communications is insidious and non-transparent at EU and US level, wrapped up in the slogan 'Think of the children'. In a situation where there is a real threat of legal, blanket eavesdropping on all EU citizens, it is bizarre that people still expect some sort of GDPR-type digital privacy protection from the state/EU.
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CBDC is an existential issue for central banks. If they don't get CBDC in place fast enough and a critical mass around the world migrates to Bitcoin, neither CBDC nor the central banks will be of interest to anyone anymore. Central banks, in turn, are an existential issue for current nation-states. If states lose control over the issuance of money, it could significantly change their current nature or existence.
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I recommend boycotting the digital euro until the last minute, always bearing in mind that it is a blanket spying financial instrument. Be prepared for a massive CBDC campaign that will try to convince you otherwise. Already, what I am writing to you now is considered disinformation by Facebook/Instagram. In fact, CBDC is "so good" that it must be mandatory in some countries.
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Instead of digital euros, I recommend Bitcoin for long-term holding and Lightning or Monero for day-to-day transactions.
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I believe that in the future, we will not understand how a state/central bank could have full control over an issued currency that millions of people were legally required to use and which it was able to destroy through inflation, thereby impoverishing all its citizens across the board. This strikes us as starkly immoral.
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USA
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Although I don't personally recommend it, yes, as a non-US citizen who owns a US LLC, you can have US customers without incurring federal taxes and a host of other obligations. The key point for tax purposes is whether the US LLC carries on a trade or business in the US and whether it generates income effectively connected with the trade or business in the US.
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If your U.S. LLC is structured and operates primarily outside the U.S. (for example, it manages all operations, production, and services from abroad), it generally should not incur federal tax liability. However, depending on your specific activities and presence, you may still have filing requirements or tax considerations at the U.S. state level.
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To make sure you don't incur tax liabilities in the US:
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1. Avoid having a permanent establishment (such as an office or employees) in the U.S.
2. Manage your US LLC operations from your country of residence (such as Paraguay).
3. If possible, use contractors or services outside the U.S. to support your business.
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As the nuances of tax laws can be complex and subject to change, it's a good idea to consult a tax adviser who specializes in international business. He or she can provide you with tailored advice, taking into account the latest regulations and your specific business activities. If you manage your US company from your country of residence, then the CFC rules may apply - i.e. the US company will have to pay tax in your country of residence. Of course, there are many rules and exceptions here as well.
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If the US LLC does not pay taxes in the US, i.e., operates as a pass-through entity, then all income tax requirements are passed through to the tax residency of the owners of the business. If the owner of the US LLC is an EU tax resident, the income is taxed in the EU. And it can be a really high amount (which is why a US LLC needs to be owned as a sole tax resident of a country with territorial taxation, such as Paraguay).
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If you have tax residency in Paraguay and want to make sure you don't incur US tax liability because of your US clients, I would recommend invoicing US clients from, for example, a Gibraltar company that has territorial taxation. Also, you don't pay tax on the Gibraltar firm's dividends as a tax resident of Paraguay.
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Georgia
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I managed to get and activate an American Express credit card from the Bank of Georgia (I only signed a couple of contracts in Tbilisi, not proving any income). It is included in the price of my SOLO Club package. It is not an "American" American Express, but a "Georgian" American Express, so I was unable to register it on their website, which supposedly only works for "American". But the services associated with this card (insurance and other benefits) should usually work.
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If you want to save on (or pay off entirely) your Georgian Bank account's monthly fees, the easy hack is to use it to pay for any global online service that's cheaper in Georgia than in your country. For example, you pay almost twice as much for Spotify in the EU than in Georgia (when paying with a Georgian card).
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Paraguay
Some Paraguayan banks have lost their willingness to open bank accounts for clients who do not have financial transactions or economic activity in Paraguay. They also require non-zero VAT statements from the SET (and registration with the tax office). The bright exception, where they will open an account for you without any problems so far, is Banco Familiar (I recommend it) or Financiera Paraguayo Japonesa.
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If you don't have a Paraguayan bank account and need to pay something in Paraguay or just top up your Paraguayan account, the easiest way to do this from abroad is via Western Union (with your Georgian or European card) for a very low fee.
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SOLO Georgia cards are sufficient to live in Paraguay (we'll be happy to help you open a SOLO account if you don't already have one), with the caveat that you can set up Paraguay as your tax residency on the Bank of Georgia website. If you opt for a SOLO Club account, you will have unlimited free withdrawals in Paraguay (you will only pay the ATM operator, which is unavoidable). SOLO X and SOLO Premium will charge 2% on withdrawals. Bank of Georgia even allows you to open an account in Paraguayan guaraní, but this is only applied to international transfers, not ATM withdrawals. And since fees for foreign incoming transactions are very high in Paraguay, I'd recommend sticking with Western Union or Remitly.
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New Paraguayan crypto exchange https://x4t.com. You can make the KYC with your Paraguayan cedula.
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If you are still looking for a nice apartment in Asunción, join us! There are already 5 of us Paraguayan nomads at Palman's Villa Mora, and our goal is to have a democratic majority at the house meeting! :-)
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Thailand
Bitcoin, Monero, and cryptocurrencies
If you want to exchange larger volumes of cryptos to fiat one way or the other without CRS, you can use the Slovenian OTC exchange Bitnik. You can sign up here. It does require KYC, but it's without automated reporting.
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If you're going to Peru, stop in the Bitcoin-friendly village of Carabayllo.
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A big sad black day for digital privacy. A Dutch court has sent open-source developer Tornado Cash Alexey Pertsev to prison for 5 years for allowing his software to be used by criminals, among thousands of other users. This was despite the fact that he had no control over this in terms of the functionality of the software itself. This is a very dangerous precedent, where potential developers/operators of any digital privacy solution can end up in jail (it's similarly absurd to putting Richard Stallman in jail for criminals using open-source or Bill Gates for using Microsoft products). This verdict has spread fear in the crypto community, causing other operators to shut down their bitcoin/crypto mixing services. In the end, this ruling will hurt everyone.
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Most users requiring anonymity after dropping bitcoin mixing services prefer Monero. That is why we will actively address it in this newsletter:
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Anything on Amazon for XMR can be bought through Monezon.
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If you're a Monero fan, I recommend signing up for The Monero Moon monthly newsletter.
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How to exchange the best XMR to a Georgian bank account: Change your XMR to USDT, which cryptal.com accepts, send it there via the Tron network for 1 USDT, and then withdraw it to your Georgian account.
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But even Bitcoin can be more anonymous if you use it properly - Lightning transactions are certainly more anonymous than on-chain transactions. You can also try Bitcoin Silent Payments, where there's no need to use a new address for each incoming transaction. My favorite Cake Wallet already supports them.
The "privacy-aware" Bitcoin wallets have burst the bubble. Note the Sparrow Bitcoin Wallet, which can provide detailed information and manage UTXOs; Ginger Wallet, which has implemented CoinJoin functionality; or Harbor, an ecash desktop wallet.
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BTCPayServer is the best open-source tool to accept Bitcoin for your e-shop and free yourself from card companies. If you don't have it yet, I recommend you check out the new movie My Trust In You Is Broken.
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Travel hacks
KeepGo has launched a new global eSIM. It's not that global—it doesn't work in Africa and South America. PokeFI is still cheaper ($2.5/GB) and has true global coverage.
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If you're a Paraguayan resident and are planning a visit to Paraguay in the near future, buy the highest flat rate from mobile operator Personal for PYG 200k (€24/month) for 30GB of roaming data (1GB for €0.8). You'll have all of the Americas and Europe covered. And we haven't hit a time limit yet. In fact, Paraguay's Claro will disconnect you after 2 months outside of Paraguay, and unlike Personal, it doesn't work in Central / Eastern Europe.
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If you are considering a second citizenship in the Caribbean, now is the time. That's because, from 30.6, the investment required in Caribbean countries doubles. Here is a list of countries where you can buy citizenship.
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This is an old hack (but maybe some don't know this): if you want to avoid VAT when buying an online service that doesn't require delivery, you can use your favorite address in Hong Kong.
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Interesting links
The interview with Pavel Durov about why he decided to leave Berlin, California, and finally settle in Dubai with his Telegram development company reflects, in my opinion, the current bureaucratic state of the EU and the US, where the Secret Service wants to control everything. The EU would undoubtedly benefit from these recommendations.
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Events
13-15.6 BTC Prague (PVA EXPO Prague). I will give a lecture on "Hacking as a State of Mind".
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If you come to Monerokon this weekend or BTC Prague next weekend, you can pick up our brand-new OPT-OUT Liberation Travel t-shirt!
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