About two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, where they enjoy tax benefits and a special court to settle business disputes. But a tiny Native American tribe in South Carolina hopes to usurp Delaware’s status as the nation’s preeminent tax haven, and it’s starting with crypto.
The Catawba Indian Nation, a group of about 3,500 people on land 30 miles south of Charlotte, North Carolina, last month published a draft regulation for stablecoins, digital currencies intended to bring financial stability to an erratic cryptocurrency market. Borrowing banking codes and tweaking popular legal frameworks used by other states — including North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming — the tribe has its sights set on becoming the place people go when they want to start a crypto venture.
The project is operated out of the Catawba Digital Economic Zone, a legal entity established last February that, according to CEO Joe McKinney, affords it the same sovereignty and legal reach as any state. McKinney said he developed the zone’s legal framework over a period of several years, and called the launch a milestone for a project with big “profit potential.”
McKinney hopes the zone will eventually replace Delaware as the place to remotely incorporate businesses looking for tax benefits, but it’s starting with “Web3,” a…
