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Frederik Bussler is the Gen Z owner of New York marketing firm Bussler & Co and a two-time acquired start-up founder.
While headlines chronicle Gen Z’s anxieties — born amid 9/11’s aftermath, raised through the Great Recession, graduating into Covid-19’s chaos, and entering a workforce threatened by AI — a counter-narrative emerges from crypto’s frontier. A growing swathe of Gen Z is gaining wealth through digital assets, with 42% of the segment investing in cryptocurrency. In fact, Gen Z investors are four times more likely to own crypto than retirement accounts. The majority of Gen Z surveyed believe that they’ll become crypto millionaires, and thousands of digital natives in their early twenties have already amassed seven- and eight-figure fortunes through cryptocurrency, NFTs, and DeFi protocols.
These young millionaires cluster in residence and citizenship by investment destinations such as Dubai, Singapore, and various Caribbean havens that welcome crypto wealth with open arms and favorable tax regimes.
The archetypal Gen Z crypto millionaire didn’t attend Stanford or work at Goldman Sachs. Take Erik Finman, who at the age of 12 (in 2011), received a gift of USD 1,000 from his grandmother. Back then, a single Bitcoin was worth only USD 12, so he bought as many as he could, eventually becoming a millionaire before turning 18. He wants to use some of his Bitcoin wealth to create a new university in Dubai, a telling choice of location that reflects broader migration patterns among crypto wealthy.
Gen Z and millennials make up the majority of crypto buyers, with nearly 94% under the age of 40. What distinguishes this cohort isn’t merely their wealth accumulation speed but their relationship with money itself. Traditional wealth markers, from corner offices and country club memberships to luxury sedans, hold minimal appeal. Instead, they prize mobility, digitization, and jurisdictional arbitrage.
This mobility has transformed residence into a subscription model. This year, 9,800 high-net-worth individuals are projected to move to the UAE, making it the world’s top destination for migrating millionaires. The emirates’ appeal is apparent: While capital gains taxes reach up to 42% in some European countries, the UAE imposes zero personal income tax or capital gains tax on individuals.
On top of that, Dubai attracts high-net-worth digital asset investors with its world-class infrastructure and a regulatory environment that explicitly courts crypto entrepreneurs through the Golden Visa program, offering 10-year renewable residence permits. The UAE has the highest crypto ownership rate in the world, with nearly 30% of residents owning cryptocurrency. Royal Jet’s CEO notes a telling demographic shift: “There are a lot of those young crypto millionaires that we deal with” using private jet services.
Singapore presents a different value proposition. In spite of recent regulatory tightening, including the omnibus Financial Services and Markets Act legislation, the city-state remains a powerhouse for serious crypto enterprises. Young founders appreciate Singapore’s blend of regulatory clarity and innovation support — even Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum's co-founder, mentioned “I have been in Singapore a lot lately!” when discussing his nomadic lifestyle.
Caribbean nations are emerging as unexpected beneficiaries of wealthy cryptopreneurs. Puerto Rican residents who qualify as bona fide residents pay zero US Federal Income Tax on Puerto Rico-sourced income and pay only territorial income tax (7-33%). As an added benefit, crypto assets acquired as a new resident of Puerto Rico are exempt from capital gains tax under Act 60, saving crypto traders up to 23.8% versus mainland rates. Another Caribbean leader is Antigua and Barbuda, which offers citizenship by investment starting at USD 230,000 with no capital gains, wealth, or inheritance taxes.
Despite crypto’s decentralization ethos, Gen Z demonstrates surprising sophistication regarding compliance. Setting up a UAE company allows them to get a residence visa and operate within Dubai’s business-friendly environment, a far cry from the anarchist roots of early Bitcoin. They hire international tax attorneys and maintain meticulous transaction records.
This shift reflects both maturation and necessity. Banking and investment relationships require clear fund sources. Plus, as regulatory frameworks crystallize globally, early adopters who established compliant structures position themselves advantageously for institutional capital integration.
The traditional emigration narrative inverts for Gen Z crypto millionaires. Rather than relocate for new opportunities, Gen Z is looking to safeguard existing wealth. Unlike the USA, the UK has no direct exit tax, meaning you can accumulate crypto wealth, move to a favorable jurisdiction like Dubai, and cash out without capital gains tax.
The first Gen Z crypto millionaires aren’t asking permission; they’re already gone. Twenty-somethings with seven-figure portfolios hold Portuguese golden visas and Dubai residence, coordinating on Signal rather than in boardrooms. They measure wealth in Bitcoin, not dollars. The financial centers of the future are those that will adapt to this new reality.
Henley & Partners assists international clients in obtaining residence and citizenship under the respective programs. Contact us to arrange an initial private consultation.
