Exchange Ranking
Top Exchanges
24h Volume Ranking
Popularity Ranking
Exchange BTC Balance
Proof of Reserves
Decentralized Exchanges
Funding Rate
Funding Heatmap
Liquidation Data
Max Pain
Long/Short Ratio
Whale L/S Ratio
Binance/Okex/Huobi L/S
Bitfinex Margin L/S
ETF Tracker
Solana ETF
XRP ETF
Hong Kong ETF
Bitcoin Treasuries
Crypto Reversal
Ethereum Reserves
HyperLiquid Wallet Analysis
Hyperliquid Whale Watch
Large Transactions
On-chain Movement
Bitcoin ROI
Stablecoin Market Cap
Options Analysis
News
Articles
Economic Calendar
Features
Wallet
Contract Calculator
Security
Collections
Watchlist
FollowingThe British Virgin Islands: Rebuilding compliance advantages under pressure
"I have seen us stand firm under international pressure, and I have seen us comprehensively reforming our compliance system to comply with OECD requirements. We are still here." This is Ayana Hull's core argument in her defense of The British Virgin Islands (BVI). This is not a prediction, but a strength inventory.
Hull serves as head of BVI regulation and financial services at Maples Group. According to BFI Finance's own research data, as of June 1, the number of tokenized securities in this jurisdiction has reached 305, ranking first among all jurisdictions in the world. The region accounts for more than 10% of the global U.S. dollar tokenized government bond market.
Hull believes that it is four decades of continuous revision of company laws, funds laws and anti-money laundering (AML) laws that have created the current situation.
The rulebook continues to be rewritten
Since the beginning of his career, Hull has seen the BVI change its underlying regulations. The International Business Companies Act, which has been in place since 1984, was replaced by the BVI Business Companies Act in 2005, when international agencies pressured jurisdictions to stop providing foreign companies with tax treatment that their local companies were unable to obtain.
"I have witnessed the overhauling of anti-money laundering regulatory provisions, including the relevant regulatory codes in 2018," Hull said.
Other changes are to remain competitive. The BVI introduced the "Approved Manager" system in 2012 and launched the "Incubator" and "Approved Fund" in 2015 to compete with the Cayman Islands.
The rulebook is rewritten every time a regulator or competitor takes action. Digital assets are the latest round of challenges.
The cornerstone behind tokens
Hull's argument is based on the corporate entity, not the blockchain itself. BVI has approximately 362,000 active companies on its books and registered more than 7000 new companies in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 10%, setting the strongest first-quarter record since 2022.
The rest of the dominant claims predate the cryptocurrency era. "We have the English common law system. We have a commercial court that proves that we can obtain adequate legal representation at the BVI. We use the U.S. dollar as legal tender,"Hull said." We now have nonstop flights from Miami, which takes two hours to BVI."
Those 305 securities are based on these 362,000 companies.
Compliance issues will not go away
Hull's outlook coexist with its concerns. "Over the next four to five years, I expect BVI to become one of the leading jurisdictions for token issuance, custody and VASP (virtual asset service provider) exchanges," she said,"But due to compliance issues, we are struggling with centralizing exchanges."
Hull serves on the Financial Services Commission's Virtual Assets Advisory Committee, so the process she describes is the process she participated in recommending.
The jurisdiction is not necessarily proposing to simplify the process. Financial Services Secretary Lorna Smith has publicly expressed her desire to "speed it up" with one condition: "You don't want to make wrong decisions in a hurry." But at the same time, you don't want to lose business."
Hull's answer is to improve capabilities, not simply pursue speed. "Compliance is a big issue that is not going to go away," she said."Nothing needs to change in the next four to five years except that we continue to do better."
Ministers are committed to addressing the speed of BVI decision-making, while advisers are committed to addressing the quality of decision-making. This is the trade-off the jurisdiction has made before: absorb rules and retain business.
