UK's Elite Tax Drives Investors to Swiss Crypto Hub

The latest indication of unrest among Britain's wealthy elite is that Christian Angermayer has departed from England for a crypto centre in Switzerland in response to the government's intentions to increase taxes on the offshore riches of wealthy Britons.

The investor in cryptocurrencies, biotech, and psychedelics told Bloomberg in a statement that he relocated from London to Lugano this month. Businesses and people in Lugano can pay using Bitcoin or the stablecoin Tether.

Angermayer, a 46-year-old German national who has resided in the United Kingdom for the last 10 years, considered moving to Dubai and New York City and was considered a "non-dom" while in Britain.

Thanks to that position, he was able to keep his UK-based income and earnings free of taxation for up to fifteen years.

The preferential treatment is initially provided at no cost to claimants, but if they continue to live in Britain, they will eventually be charged £60,000 ($80,000) per year under the existing structure.

The major political parties in Britain targeted the non-domiciled resident population, which includes multibillionaires and top bankers from the City of London, to raise more money to spend on voters before the general election in July.

Following public criticism, the then-Conservative administration increased the threshold for non-doms to pay tax on their foreign income from fifteen to four years in the UK in March.

However, the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, intends to take things a step further by promising to abolish inheritance tax exemptions for assets held in foreign trusts before its July landslide election triumph.

This strategy is particularly unsettling for non-doms since they will likely be susceptible to Labour's other proposals to increase taxes on private equity investments and private school fees, which may already exceed £55,000 per year.

The possibility of a wealth departure, which might hamper Labour's expenditure plans for next month's budget, is growing as ultra-wealthy Britons consider leaving the nation.

According to Bloomberg News, which cited sources familiar with the situation, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering changing the measures due to increasing concerns about their consequences.

In a Friday interview with CNBC, Starmer branded rumours of a mass flight of non-doms "alarmist" and promised that his government would "get the balance right" regarding program adjustments.

Not long after combining his initial firm, Ribopharma AG, with a US competitor in 2003, Angermayer uprooted his life from Germany and settled in London. Life-extension treatments, brain-computer chips, and space technology are just some areas he has invested in over the last 20 years.

During his journey, he fostered relationships with world leaders and powerful investors like Peter Thiel.

Angermayer has an alternate Olympic competition promoting performance-enhancing substances, and the co-founder of PayPal Holdings is now supporting one of his recent wagers.

Approximately one mile away from the UK division of his family's investment firm, Apeiron Investment Group, Angermayer's penthouse in London was adorned with triceratops skulls and sculptures of Egyptian gods.

The website states that the business manages its own money and is responsible for approximately $2.5 billion in assets.

A source familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity to share sensitive material, said Apeiron's London headquarters will remain operational.

Apeiron holds offices in New York, Malta, and Abu Dhabi; LinkedIn data indicates that at least six individuals are employed at the London office.

The politically stable, economically prosperous, and privacy-conscious Swiss has long been a magnet for the world's ultra-wealthy.

Rich people who relocate to the nation can take advantage of special tax policies.

Billionaire Alan Howard, hedge fund manager and co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management, is thinking about relocating there, while Jeremy Coller, a British private equity magnate, moved there earlier this year.

Angermayer's new home city in Switzerland is an Italian-speaking financial hotspot, a long-time favourite of Italians seeking to deposit their money abroad.

However, that growth has been halted recently due to Italy's war on tax cheating, so the city is looking for alternative methods to bring in income.

In 2022, Tether Holdings—the issuer of the world's most widely embraced stablecoin—began sponsoring an annual Bitcoin-themed conference in Lugano, partnering with local officials to make the city's payment infrastructure more crypto-friendly.

Crypto companies that want to do business in Europe but don't want to deal with the EU's new regulations on digital assets, which are slated to take effect next year, have found Switzerland to be an attractive destination.

Samara Asset Group, an investor and advisor to blockchain-based companies, and crypto miner Northern Data are among Angermayer's blockchain holdings.

According to last month's Wall Street Journal story, he introduced Tether to Northern Data before the stablecoin company acquired a substantial interest in the company in 2023.

Another of Angermayer's wagers is the Utah-based biotech firm Blackrock Neurotech, where Tether has a stake.