Crypto-millionaire dazzles Nevis with ambitious investment plan – StMaartenNews.com – News Views Reviews

CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS – It almost sound too good to be true, but Nevisians are serious about it: the establishment of a Special Sustainability Zone (SSZ) on the south coast of the island, powered by a multi-million dollar investment by crypto millionaire Olivier Janssens.

The project Janssens and his company South Nevis have in mind is called Destiny, described in the Financial Times as “a libertarian community with its own legal system.” Its proposed location is between Long Point Port and Indian Castle Estate.

The establishment of the SSZ is made possible by a law the government in Nevis approved last summer, but Janssens is not out of the woods yet. This is because the land he plans to purchase is all privately owned and he therefore has to make individual purchase deals with each owner. The law states that developers of large projects can introduce their own dispute regulation services and mechanisms.

Janssens has said that the local court system is inefficient and that he does not trust politicians.

Brantley said in a national address in August that “no special sustainability zone can ever be declared in Nevis without the full approval of the Nevis Island Administration and ratification by the Nevis Island Assembly.”

Brantley assured in his address that the law that regulates such zones “establishes strict safeguards requiring developers to demonstrate long-term economic benefits, provide infrastructure at no cost to tax payers, ensure renewable energy and water self-sufficiency, protect the environment and make provisions for health, safety and security.”

These requirements have not frightened Janssens away. Born in Belgium and currently living in Monaco, he obtained St Kitts and Nevis citizenship ten years ago through an investment program.

Janssens, who previously worked for Sun Micro Systems, is a self-declared libertarian. As such, he stands for maximum individual freedom and minimum government interference. Libertarians support drug legalization, LGBTQ+-rights and freedom of expression. They oppose high taxes, extensive regulation and government welfare programs, favoring economic freedom.

If the plans go through, Destiny will become a reality on the south coast of Nevis, an island with a surface of 93 square kilometers and 13,200 inhabitants. The American architecture and engineering company Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) is charged with Destiny’s design. The project will consist of “villa’s, hospitals and swimming pools.”

Janssens has made quite some promises to Nevis that are seemingly hard to resist. One of these promises is the investment of $50 million in the island’s infrastructure. This includes funding for the Alexandra hospital and health clinics. Remaining funds will go to other critical projects Destiny agrees on with the local government. Nevis will also receive a 20 percent share in the profit the project will generate. Janssens says that 10 percent will go directly to the government while the other half will be parked in a sovereign wealth fund. As the cherry on the cake, Janssens offers an annual $1 million scholarship program for youngsters who want to study abroad.

On the website Destiny.com the project is described as “revolutionary eco-luxury living.” The project will use geothermal energy and use rainwater for full sustainability. It is currently unclear how many people will choose Destiny as their home, or their home away from home.

Janssens has established a company called South Nevis to lead the development. He has surrounded himself with a team of specialists in civil, criminal and constitutional law, judicial systems, the governance of special economic zones and commonwealth law.

While Janssens is not a fan of government interference, Destiny will remain “fully bound by the constitution of St. Kitts and Nevis,” while islanders will be free to visit and to make use of the beaches on the south coast.

Destiny’s website does not mention a timeline for its proposed development and it does not contain any information about the progress of its attempts to purchase the land it needs. Janssens is using the services of real estate agent Sharon Brantley who just happens to be the wife of Prime Minister Mark Brantley. The latter has emphasized that his wife has twenty years of experience in the business and that the government does not interfere in her dealings with Janssens.

The Belgian-born crypto-millionaire discovered Bitcoin in 2010 and immediately began mining this digital currency. Janssens was also an investor in Spindoolies-Tech, an Israeli company specialized in the provision of crypto-currency mining gear. In 2021, the Canadian blockchain technology firm Blockchain bought Spindoolies.

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Destiny

By Hilbert Haar

Money does not stink, is a well-known expression and this is possibly one of the reasons for Belgian-born crypto-millionaire Olivier Janssens to promise the government of Nevis something that suspiciously looks like heaven in earth.

The Nevis Island Administration approved a law last summer that gives investors in large projects the freedom to establish their own dispute regulation services and mechanisms.

That suits Janssens, who is a libertarian and therefore not a supporter of government interference, just fine. He acknowledges nevertheless that his project (called Destiny) is not a new country and that it is fully bound by the constitution of St. Kitts and Nevis, but he will hire private judges to rule on disputes. To some observers, this smells like the creation of a state within a state.

Whether this project will become a reality remains to be seen. Janssens has to deal with individual owners to purchase the land he needs and that could cost him a pretty penny. Once these landowners smell money, prices for land will go through the roof. This does not seem to be a real problem though, because Janssens has plenty of capital in the bank.

The real question is whether the island government will be able to stand up to someone who has so much money that he can basically do whatever the hell he likes. The temptation is right there: Janssens has promised to invest $50 million in infrastructure on the island (among others funding for the Alexandra hospital) and a 20 percent share in the annual profits the project will generate, plus a $1 million scholarship program for youngsters who want to study abroad.

Altogether, this is a lot of money for a small island and that makes it very tough (if not impossible) for local politicians to say no to this project that will be established as a “special sustainability zone.”

Legally, everything seems to be in place to go ahead with Destiny and yet the feeling remains that by giving it the green light, Nevis is giving away a part of its territory.

What would politicians in St. Maarten do with the proposal of a similar project? (Say, turning Mullet Bay into a special economic zone and selling it for lots of money to a foreigner, who would promise lots of jobs, annual revenue, make students happy and develop a project that would make our island look like the brightest bulb on Broadway?).

The answer to that question, my friends, is blowing in the wind. Politicians would have to exchange national pride (give Mullet Bay back to the people!) for more employment, a healthier national budget and better education opportunities for our students.

The scary aspect of this development is clear to me. If money can buy everything, including a piece of your territory, and if all of this is underpinned by legislation, then the world will soon be full of these special sustainability zones. (Trump could buy Greenland, for instance). It is truly frightening, especially because landowners won’t be able to resist a sale if the price is high enough and because there is nothing a government can do about it.

For now, let us just wait and see what is going to happen on Nevis. Maybe Destiny will become a huge success. Who knows? If that happens, St. Maarten may feel like it has missed the boat. But at least it will still be the master in its home.

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