Billionaire crypto investor leaves UK for Switzerland over tax fears

Christian Angermayer, the billionaire investor, has left England for Switzerland as non-doms residing in Britain brace themselves for the possibility of the new Labour government increasing taxes on their offshore wealth.
The cryptocurrency investor, who has lived in Britain for the past decade, moved from London to the Swiss city of Lugano this month.
Angermayer, 46, also explored moving to New York and Dubai and was a non-dom during his time in Britain, according to a report by Bloomberg, which cited a person with knowledge of the matter.
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A non-dom is a resident of the UK, whose permanent home — or domicile — for tax purposes is outside of the country.
Angermayer’s status as a non-dom meant that he did not have to pay taxes on his overseas income and earnings for as long as 15 years, Bloomberg reported.
In the run-up to the general election, Labour said that it hoped to increase tax revenues by up to £1 billion a year by closing loopholes that allowed wealthy individuals living in the UK to register overseas for tax purposes.
However, recent reports suggest that Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is reassessing the Labour manifesto commitment to crack down on non-dom tax perks after being warned that her plans might not raise any money.
Critics argue that those who are affected could choose to leave Britain completely rather than pay the new charges, which may include making inheritance tax payable on foreign assets held in a trust. About 74,000 people claimed non-dom status in 2022-23.
“Every non-dom I know has left or is about to leave,” Angermayer said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Angermayer is a serial technology investor and a strong advocate for the benefits of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. His pursuit to commercialise psychedelic substances has won the backing of the likes of Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire. One of Angermayer’s latest investments is an alternative competition to the Olympic Games where athletes are encouraged to use performance-enhancing drugs.
The billionaire, originally from Germany, is also a big investor in the world of cryptocurrencies. He had a significant stake in Northern Data, a German-listed bitcoin miner that has pivoted toward AI cloud hosting.
Tether Holdings, which issues a popular stablecoin — a type of cryptocurrency that is designed to maintain a fixed value over time — began hosting an annual bitcoin-themed conference in Lugano in 2022 after it partnered with local authorities to make its local payment systems more amenable to cryptocurrencies.
The Treasury was approached for comment.