Catawba Digital Economic Zone (US)

[MarkusCostigan]

The CDEZ is the first jurisdiction within the United States created for digital entrepreneurs, freelancers, FinTech, digital assets, Web3, and other exponential digital technologies. Enabled by the sovereign Catawba Indian Nation of the Carolinas.

HOW DOES THE CDEZ WORK?​

• With a model similar to Estonia's eResidency, the CDEZ allows anyone to remotely set up a Company with a few clicks.
• CDEZ Companies are regular legal entities (LLCs, DAO LLC, C-Corps, DAO UNAs, NGO), etc.
• CDEZ entities are domiciled in the Catawba Indian Nation, and are regulated by the regulations of the Catawba Digital Economic Zone
• CDEZ Companies can open bank accounts within the United States.

https://catawbadigital.zone/
Any feedback?

 

[bibing]

What would be the benefit or purpose of opening this, rather than a Wyoming LLC?‌

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

Would be interested to understand more about the DAO options

 

[Don]

That's a cool marketing choice. Use the words "most options" when you offer two options:‌

Double negative means⁤ "Compromising on legal protection", as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Cetme308win]

Is that legally accepted or its one of these fakest companies registers like the One‌ Enterprise Way, Business Enterprise Zone, Banjul one? Lol

 

[Sols]

That's a‍ really valid concern. What happened with The Gambia iRegistry scam could easily happen again.

https://zoneauthority.io/ is the website of the Catawba Nation Zone Authority, which is in charge of these⁠ zones under the Catawba nation. It links directly to https://catawbadigital.zone/

However, how do we verify⁤ that the Zone Authority is legitimate? For that, we can turn to the Catawba nation⁣ website (https://www.catawba.com/) where we can find a press release from February 12, 2024:⁢ https://www.catawba.com/storage/app/media/banking-commissioners-appointment.pdf This press release links to both the Zone Authority and the Catawba Digital Economic︀ Zone.

I wish they had made it clearer and more easy to connect the dots.︁

 

[Cetme308win]

The problem is that probably,banks and probably the︀ federal government dont accept them... Thats the question

 

[bibing]

This is the thing...Banks are not even accepting offshore from legitimate countries, how the hell‌ they are going to accept companies from these...

 

[ilke]

Well, according to their site, they are cooperating with‍ 1 FDIC-member bank from the state, and 2 Puerto Rican IFEs, of which only 1⁠ is crypto-friendly and therefore has a (potentially) existing change of accepting it's DASPs/VASPs.

I would⁤ not count on it though. Your concern for the banking is fully valid. Difficult to⁣ state the stance of the US itself on it as well.

 

[Legal]

If there is no Bank and EMI option, then this license, in 90% of cases,‌ will be useless. Maybe they have a few partner Bank/EMI?

 

[ilke]

That's what I mentioned in the post above but they have only 1 bank partner⁠ that they list as friendly to their DASP license.

And it's not like these free-zones⁤ think about banking very often. Look at crypto exchange licenses in the UAE (RAK DAO⁣ for example). They started giving out licenses with no plan as to who would be⁢ banking the entities and all UAE banks were rejecting them from the start - leading︀ the DASPs to ending up with sketchy banks like Migom (already collapsed) or EQIBank (don't︁ want to jinx that 🙂 ).

 

[daniels27]

Are the tax free? If yes, can you add a WY LLC to get access‌ to banking? If no, why would I care?

 

[Sols]

The federal government has no choice but to accept‍ them. Native reserves function like independent nations within the US. It's kind of (but not⁠ exactly) like how the US doesn't have a choice whether it accepts Florida or UK⁤ companies.

Banking is probably difficult but that's more to do with it being new rather⁣ than where or what it is. The laws look clear. The Catawba Nation is well⁢ within its rights to pass laws like this. Eventually some banks and financial institutions will︀ begin to make decisions on whether to accept these types of companies. US banks might︁ not have a choice but to accept, unless they risk getting sued for discrimination. That︂ doesn't mean US banks are likely to start accepting Catawba companies owned and operated by︃ non-US persons on non-US soil, though.

If taxation for these companies/legal persons works the same︄ as it does for natural persons, they are subject to federal tax but not state︅ tax.

 

[JackofAllTrades]

We know that tribal registries were included in the CTA (Corporate Transparency Act), so a‌ Catawba UNA or LLC should be able to obtain a EIN. Problem is that CDEZ‍ is acting like a dodgy offshore registry in that it does not answer inquiries quickly.⁠ That is a hassle but also useful too.

 

[HardRJones]

Indian reservations are fully under federal jurisdiction in the United States. In some cases they‌ are outside of state jurisdiction. This doesn’t seem to be the case for the Catawba,‍ which are a tiny tribe consisting of about 2600 people and is a recognized tribe⁠ headquartered in the state of South Carolina but don’t actually have a physical reservation. This⁤ domicile is purely virtual. I have no idea what that mess looks like legally or⁣ what kind of legal foundation it rests on. It would be a different matter if⁢ it were the Cherokee or Choctaw, who have physical reservations outside of state jurisdiction in︀ Oklahoma, tribal-owned economic presences, and in the case of the Choctaw run one of the︁ larger defense contractors in the US. You are still under US federal jurisdiction even there,︂ and there are no such offerings more attractive than a Wyoming LLC offered by such︃ Indian “nations” in any event.

 

[HardRJones]

No more issues with banking compared to a Wyoming or Delaware entity in the hypothetical‌ scenario where someone like the Choctaw offered something like this. It’s US federal jurisdiction and‍ all banking regulations apply. Not sure about this Catawba thing. It’s very suspect.

 

[JackofAllTrades]

They do have a reservation, two parcels in North and South Carolina,⁤ albeit small and apparently some sort of casino under development. Definitely not an offshore jurisdiction.⁣ Advantages, if any, would be found in their financial legislation and entities that could be⁢ created.

 

[HardRJones]

It’s a few small parcels owned by the tribe, not treaty land. I don’t see‌ what this offers over a Wyoming LLC with its no state income tax, low fees,‍ and minimal filing requirements with a much more established state legal framework.

 

[JackofAllTrades]

Wyoming has a state securities commission and robust laws. Catawba obviously has some⁠ incomplete laws and no enforcement arm. A Wyoming entity has to file annually, a Catawba⁤ entity doesn't have to file anything and consequently a EIN is optional now that the⁣ CTA is suspended. Could work in digital space, especially with a DEX.