Justin Sun’s Grenada post grants diplomatic immunity — in Switzerland
Justin Sun, the infamous crypto entrepreneur behind TRON, has a new job — he’ll serve as Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for Caribbean isle nation Grenada.
Apparently, this means the Chinese national has decided to change his citizenship. So, welcome His Excellency Justin Sun, Grenadine diplomat.
The move comes as a surprise after Sun announced in July that he’d return to China to work on a project for the Chinese Communist Party, and definitely not retire from crypto.
Sun’s resignation from the crypto project he copied from Ethereum founded in 2017 was announced via Twitter by the Grenada arm of the WTO.
The implication of Sun’s appointment is that he made an investment in the Grenadine government to the tune of $150,000 to $350,000, a Grenada-based lawyer familiar with local immigration told Protos.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, added Sun’s appointment would grant him “no diplomatic immunity whatsoever in Grenada” and that Grenada has a “strict extradition policy with the United States government.”
However, the World Trade Organization told us “diplomatic immunity is afforded by the host government (of the WTO), in this case Switzerland, to diplomatic agents of the sending state (Grenada and Justin Sun) and applies only on Swiss territory.”
This leaves open the possibility that Sun could, under certain circumstances, be granted diplomatic immunity within Switzerland.
Needless to say, Sun’s prominent position in the Grenadine government — despite buying his citizenship — may be a broader reflection of the current atmosphere in the Caribbean.
There, five countries offer citizenship through investment (Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda), and two more (the Caymans and Anguilla) offer a path to citizenship through investment.
Justin Sun joins crypto billionaires in the Caribbean
With COVID re-emerging as an issue, tourism hasn’t been the boon to Caribbean economies that it once was.
Interestingly, the Caribbean happens to be where many crypto exchanges and billionaires have set up shop: FTX to the Bahamas, Binance to Bermuda, Tether and Bitfinex to the British Virgin Islands, and Brock Pierce to Puerto Rico.
The slow roll to transform the Caribbean into a crypto-utopia started in the 2017 bull run. Americans began to move to Puerto Rico for tax purposes while proclaiming a desire to help native Puerto Ricans overcome recent issues — including hurricane recovery and power grid failures.
But that skepticism has proven to be reasonable: little has come of the blockchain revolution on the island of Puerto Rico and criticism that the “crypto colonialists” came for the region’s fantastic tax incentives and little else seems justified.
Even Crocodile Dundee cosplay enthusiast Brock Pierce, the crypto billionaire first inclined to convince everyone that Puerto Rico would be the new shining rock on a hill, has moved onto the greener pastures of Vermont.
Read more: [Cashed-up crypto exchange FTX heads to Bahamas — closer to Tether]
There, Pierce will run for Senate, indicating that blockchain has done all it can for Puerto Rico for now.
But that doesn’t mean the tech bros are done with the island paradises just yet.
Instead, it looks as though the tiny island nations will now play banker for crypto companies and host for entrepreneurs, hopefully for the good of their citizenry.
As for Sun, he’s basking in Grenada’s praise. Thanks to winning a Blue Origin auction last year, he’s set to become the first crypto billionaire – and the first Grenadine – to ever go to space.
That’s one way to earn the title of “His Excellency.”
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