Nevis LLCs and trusts for holding crypto

A Nevis LLC for crypto is one of the most searched-for structures in offshore planning, and the reason is easy to see from Charlestown. Nevis has its own company and trust laws, a regulator on Main Street, and a registry used by businesses abroad, including the company through which CEX.IO serves its international customers. What a Nevis LLC or trust will not do is make your tax at home disappear. This guide explains both structures, how a company opens exchange and bank accounts, the government fees and the reporting rules that follow the money.

What a Nevis LLC is

A Nevis limited liability companyNevis LLCA limited liability company formed under the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance, often used to hold investments. Glossary is formed under the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance, which the Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) supervises. According to the FSRC, an LLC is a legal entity with rights and liabilities separate from its members and managers, and it can be used for any lawful business purpose, including holding investments and real estate. It needs at least one member, who can also be its manager. It can be run by managers or by all the members, it needs no officers and no initial capital, and other companies can be its members or managers.

You cannot form one yourself. The Articles of Organisation are filed with the Registrar of Companies by a licensed registered agentRegistered agentA licensed local service provider that forms and maintains Nevis companies and is the official contact for the registry. Glossary, a trust and corporate service provider licensed in Nevis, and the LLC’s registered office is that agent’s office. The company must keep a registered agent at all times; the FSRC warns that failing to do so can lead to dissolution. An operating agreement is optional unless the Articles require one, but for a company holding crypto it is where you write down who may move the coins and what happens if a member dies.

The registry is not a black box either. The FSRC’s FAQ says registered agents must keep identification on beneficial owners, members and managers, and that records such as the register of members must be kept for at least five years. A Nevis LLC gives your assets a separate legal owner; it does not hide who stands behind it.

Why crypto holders look at Nevis

The practical reasons are more ordinary than the marketing suggests. A company can own coins on behalf of several family members or partners, with the operating agreement setting out each person’s share. It survives the death of a member, so the coins do not depend on one person’s seed phrase and an heir who cannot find it. And it lets you split control: two or three managers can each hold one key of a multisigMultisigA wallet that needs several keys (say two of three) to approve a payment, so one lost or stolen key is not fatal. Glossary wallet, so no single person can move the company’s funds.

The form is also familiar in the crypto industry. CEX.IO’s terms of use state that international customers contract with CEX OVRS LLC, “a limited liability company, established in St. Kitts and Nevis”, company number L 22275, with its registered office in Charlestown. That shows the structure is used by crypto businesses; it says nothing about local licensing, and we do not suggest CEX.IO is registered with the FSRC as a virtual asset business.

That distinction matters for you too. An LLC that only holds its owners’ coins is in a different position from one that exchanges crypto for other people, transfers it on their behalf or keeps it safe for them. Those activities are virtual asset business under the federal Virtual Asset Act, and a virtual asset service providerVASPVirtual asset service provider: a business that exchanges, transfers or holds crypto for others and must register under the Virtual Assets Act. Glossary operating in or from St Kitts and Nevis must be registered with the FSRC. Our page on crypto regulation in St Kitts and Nevis explains the Act and the latest regulations.

Then there is asset protection, where claims outrun the evidence. An LLC does separate the company’s assets and debts from yours. Law firms that market Nevis LLCs also describe strict “charging order” limits on what your personal creditors can take from your membership interest. We could not read the current consolidated Ordinance on an official website, so we do not repeat those claims; ask your lawyer to show you the section. No structure protects assets moved to defeat a creditor you already have, or tax you already owe.

Opening exchange and bank accounts for an LLC

Can a Nevis LLC open a crypto exchange account? Usually yes, on platforms that onboard corporate clients, but each exchange keeps its own list of accepted jurisdictions and entity types, so ask before you form the company. Corporate KYCKYC“Know your customer” checks: an exchange verifies your identity with a passport or ID, a selfie and sometimes proof of address. Glossary asks for more than a passport and a selfie. Expect to provide the certificate of formation and the Articles of Organisation, the operating agreement if there is one, the register of members and managers, a recent certificate of good standing from the registry, the registered agent’s details, and a resolution of the managers authorising the account and naming who may use it. Every beneficial owner above the platform’s threshold and every authorised signatory then goes through individual checks, with proof of address.

Platforms also want to understand the money. A short note on what the company does, where its crypto came from and how it was funded saves weeks of back-and-forth; this is the corporate version of source of wealthSource of wealthHow you built your overall net worth: salary, a business, investments or crypto gains, backed by documents. Glossary. If you funded the company with coins you already held, keep the records of that transfer. Documents issued in Nevis for use abroad may need an apostille, which the registry provides for a fee.

Bank accounts are harder than exchange accounts. Many banks, at home and in the Caribbean, are cautious about young companies from international financial centres whose main asset is crypto. Our guide to crypto and banking in St Kitts and Nevis explains what local banks and their correspondent banks look for, and our exchange reviews note which platforms we tested from the islands.

Nevis trusts

A Nevis trust for crypto usually means an international exempt trust under the Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance. The FSRC lists spendthrift or protective trusts, charitable trusts, non-charitable purpose trusts and qualified foreign trusts. At least one trustee must be a company incorporated in Nevis or a trust company doing business there, the settlor and beneficiaries must at all times be non-residents of Nevis, and the trust property must not include land in St Kitts and Nevis. A protector can be appointed to oversee the trustee and direct distributions or investments. Registration is filed by a registered agent and costs US$300, with the same fee each year to renew.

The FSRC’s own pages set out the features that make Nevis trusts well known. Foreign judgments against the trust are not enforced in Nevis, so a creditor must bring a new case in the federation’s courts. A transfer into the trust made more than one year after the creditor’s cause of action arose is not treated as fraudulent. The FSRC describes the creditor’s burden as proof beyond reasonable doubt, and its FAQ adds that a creditor must first lodge a US$25,000 bond with the Ministry of Finance. The rule against perpetuities does not apply. Ask your lawyer to confirm each point against the current Ordinance before you rely on it.

Crypto adds a practical question: who holds the keys? A trustee who cannot move the coins does not really control them, and a settlor who keeps the only seed phrase undermines the trust. Ask whether the trustee will use its own cold storageCold storageKeeping crypto keys completely offline, for example on a hardware wallet in a safe. Glossary, a regulated custodian or a multisig shared with the protector. Our wallet guide explains the options.

Reporting, CRS and the tax you still owe at home

For years Nevis entities were known for being exempt from local tax. That changed on 28 December 2018, when the Nevis Island Assembly passed amendments to the corporation and LLC ordinances to meet European Union concerns. According to the FSRC, anything formed after 31 December 2018 does not benefit from the exemption, and existing entities kept it only until 30 June 2021. Under the federal rules summarised by Deloitte, a company is resident in St Kitts and Nevis if it is centrally managed and controlled there and is then taxed on worldwide income at 25%, while a non-resident company is taxed only on income from the federation. Deloitte adds that resident companies doing business exclusively outside the federation are generally not taxed, and that there are no local economic substanceEconomic substanceRules requiring some company types to show real activity, staff or management in the jurisdiction to keep tax benefits. Glossary or controlled foreign company rules. Our crypto tax guide has the detail.

The bigger question is your home country. Many countries tax a foreign company as resident where it is really managed, so an LLC you run from London or Toronto may be resident there. Many have controlled foreign company rules that tax you on its profits, and some treat an LLC as transparent and tax the members directly. US persons face extra reporting, and the FSRC notes that Nevis has signed a FATCA agreement with the United States.

Information flows too. St Kitts and Nevis is a participating jurisdiction under the Common Reporting StandardCRSThe Common Reporting Standard: banks and other institutions share account details of foreign tax residents with their home tax authorities. Glossary, and under CRS banks look through passive investment companies to report the people who control them to their countries of residence. The OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting FrameworkCARFThe OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework: crypto platforms report customer transactions to tax authorities, similar to CRS for bank accounts. Glossary extends similar reporting to crypto platforms. St Kitts and Nevis was not on the OECD’s list of committed jurisdictions dated 17 June 2025 and we could not confirm a later commitment, but an exchange based in a committed country will report your company and its controllers all the same.

What it costs

The government’s own fees are modest and published. The Nevis FSRC lists these charges for LLCs, payable through your registered agent:

Other registry charges include US$200 to transfer an existing company’s domicile to Nevis and US$500 if an LLC fails to designate a new registered agent. A trust costs US$300 to register and US$300 a year to renew. Registered agents, lawyers and accountants set their own prices, which we have not verified; ask for a written quote that separates the government fee from the agent’s annual charge. Home-country tax filings for the structure can easily cost more than the Nevis fees.

A Nevis LLC or trust can be a sound way to hold crypto for a family, a partnership or an estate plan, provided it is set up for those reasons and declared where you live. If you are combining a structure with a move or a second passport, our guide to Citizenship by Investment with crypto wealth and our page on buying property with crypto cover the next steps, and you can compare the best crypto exchanges in St Kitts and Nevis for the accounts themselves.