CitizensOS Index · Edition 1 · Q4 2026
The Citadels of Crypto Index
The 20 places where you can hold or build in crypto, live well, and actually get the right to live there. Tax weighs most, because what you keep after tax matters most.
- 1United Arab Emirates84.5
- 2Malta79.9
- 3Switzerland76.9
- Edition
- Edition 1 · Q4 2026
- Data frozen
- Next update
- Edition 2 · Q1 2027, January 2027
- Coverage
- 42 destinations scored, top 20 published
Download the scores (CSV)Full dataset with sources (JSON)Read all 20 country profilesHow we score
The top 20, pillar by pillar
Each pillar scores 0 to 10, and the index score runs 0 to 100. The range is the best and worst rank across 17 versions of the weights; observed data is the share of the score that rests on real data rather than an estimate. Select a column to sort, or a country to read its profile.
| Rangebest to worst | Dataobserved | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 84.5 | 6.50 | 10.00 | 9.24 | 7.91 | 7.50 | 1 to 4 | 100% |
| 2 | Malta | 79.9 | 5.00 | 10.00 | 6.94 | 6.55 | 10.00 | 2 to 13 | 100% |
| 3 | Switzerland | 76.9 | 5.00 | 9.00 | 9.78 | 9.71 | 4.00 | 2 to 14 | 100% |
| 4 | The Bahamas | 75.3 | 5.00 | 10.00 | 8.33 | 8.06 | 4.50 | 3 to 23 | 65% |
| 5 | Cyprus | 75.2 | 5.00 | 8.00 | 7.12 | 7.66 | 9.50 | 3 to 10 | 100% |
| 6 | Malaysia | 75.1 | 3.75 | 10.00 | 8.42 | 7.09 | 6.50 | 3 to 24 | 100% |
| 7 | Hong Kong | 73.5 | 6.00 | 8.00 | 9.75 | 8.81 | 3.75 | 4 to 15 | 100% |
| 8 | Singapore | 72.7 | 5.00 | 8.00 | 9.86 | 9.71 | 3.25 | 5 to 18 | 100% |
| 9 | Portugal | 72.4 | 5.00 | 6.50 | 7.63 | 8.13 | 9.50 | 6 to 14 | 100% |
| 10 | United States | 70.3 | 6.00 | 4.50 | 10.00 | 9.46 | 7.00 | 1 to 17 | 100% |
| 11 | Liechtenstein | 68.8 | 5.00 | 9.00 | 8.33 | 8.06 | 2.50 | 6 to 26 | 65% |
| 12 | Germany | 68.1 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 8.96 | 9.57 | 8.50 | 3 to 22 | 100% |
| 13 | Ireland | 67.5 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 8.49 | 8.53 | 8.00 | 8 to 21 | 100% |
| 14 | El Salvador | 66.3 | 9.00 | 10.00 | 3.35 | 1.91 | 6.50 | 3 to 33 | 100% |
| 15 | Netherlands | 65.8 | 5.00 | 6.00 | 9.17 | 9.14 | 4.00 | 9 to 21 | 100% |
| 16 | Thailand | 65.7 | 4.25 | 8.00 | 6.87 | 6.73 | 6.00 | 14 to 27 | 100% |
| 17 | Türkiye | 65.5 | 5.00 | 7.00 | 4.83 | 6.83 | 8.75 | 10 to 28 | 100% |
| 18 | Georgia | 65.5 | 5.00 | 9.00 | 6.69 | 5.32 | 5.00 | 10 to 32 | 100% |
| 19 | France | 65.3 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 8.24 | 8.96 | 10.00 | 2 to 30 | 100% |
| 20 | Kazakhstan | 64.9 | 6.50 | 8.00 | 4.17 | 5.18 | 7.50 | 9 to 29 | 100% |
United Arab Emirates
Malta
Switzerland
The Bahamas
Cyprus
Malaysia
Hong Kong
Singapore
Portugal
United States
Liechtenstein
Germany
Ireland
El Salvador
Netherlands
Thailand
Türkiye
Georgia
France
KazakhstanScores are shown to one decimal and calculated with three. Where two countries tie, the one that’s easier to move to ranks higher. The CSV also lists the 22 countries we scored outside the top 20.
What the five pillars measure
Four pillars are about the place. The fifth is about you getting in, scored for someone of any nationality, so a country with a strong industry and no realistic way to live there can’t top the list.
Weights
- Rules, licensing and state commitment
- 17.5%
- Tax
- 30%
- Institutions and banking
- 17.5%
- Talent and innovation
- 17.5%
- Can you move there?
- 17.5%
- Rules, licensing and state commitment
- Whether a foreign-owned local firm can run wallet software, a spot exchange, custody or stablecoin issuance there, and five tests of state commitment to crypto.
- Tax
- The top personal rate on a gain held 6 months and on one held 24 months, and the rate a licensed crypto business actually pays. Personal and business tax weigh the same.
- Institutions and banking
- Global Innovation Index ranks for institutions and market sophistication, plus a bonus for Chainalysis’s top 20.
- Talent and innovation
- Global Innovation Index ranks for human capital and research, and for knowledge and technology outputs.
- Can you move there?
- Whether someone of any nationality can get the right to live there, how hard it is, and where it leads.
Known limits of Edition 1
We publish what the index can’t see, so you can weigh it. Corrections go in the next edition’s notes; we don’t quietly revise a published edition.
- Three crypto-business tax rates come from law-firm or adviser guides, not official sources, and are flagged in the dataset: Malta, El Salvador and Malaysia.
- The Global Innovation Index doesn’t cover The Bahamas or Liechtenstein, so two of their pillars use the median of all countries, and we flag them.
- Draft laws don’t count until they’re enacted, so Germany’s proposed 25% tax on coins bought from 2027 isn’t in the score.
- A permit doesn’t change your taxes by itself; the tax pillar assumes you become an ordinary tax resident.
- Gaps in our mobility asset database can lower a country’s score for getting in.
This index is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Governments decide every application and change their rules often.
See where you could live, and what it would take
Answer a few questions about your citizenship, income, work and family. The free Mobility Match shows the mobility assets you fit, each with its own live price shown before you buy.
