Switzerland, “offshore,” and the myth of a jurisdiction-free internet

Harbor’s Swiss company was real. The inference they wanted — that a Swiss entity plus a PDF equals a global retail ICO — was not. Domicile of the issuer is one input. Location of the audience, location of the promoters, location of the rails, and the law that attaches to the communication are others. “We are offshore” is a geography. It is not a cloak.

Other jurisdictions have registration, prospectus, payments, virtual-asset, and promotions rules that may attach. We will name markets as in or out. We will not run a world tour of “crypto-friendly” as a substitute for counsel in the markets you actually touch. Crypto-friendly is a tourism slogan. Tourism slogans leak into hero lines and then into letters.