Seychelles Foundation formation
Lighter alternative to Panama Foundation. Seychelles removed from EU Annex II in Feb 2026; clean for marketing. Filed through the same Fidelity Corp Seychelles relationship as our IBC SKU.
- Tier
- GRAY
- Formation
- up to 7 business days
- KYC
- Tier 1
- Renewal
- $999/yr
What is the Seychelles Foundation formation and what does it cost?
Lighter Panama alternative. It is $1,499 all-in / ₿0.01883166 / 1,883,166 sats, paid in Bitcoin or USDT, and formation takes 7 business days.
- Tier
- GRAY
- All-in price
- $1,499 all-in / ₿0.01883166 / 1,883,166 sats
- Year-2 renewal
- $999/yr
- KYC tier
- Tier 1
- Formation time
- 7 business days
- EU / FATF status
- off both EU lists, off the FATF lists
What's included
- Seychelles Foundation registration fee: we file and pay it on your behalf
- Foundation Charter (the constitutive document that creates the foundation as a legal person)
- By-Laws / Regulations (the governance document: how the council administers assets and who benefits)
- Founder and Councillor appointment documents
- Beneficial Owner Declaration
- First-year licensed Seychelles registered-agent service
- Sanctions screen + Tier 1 KYC
What's NOT included
- Apostille (sold separately at $189)
- Year-2+ offshore registered-agent and government fee renewal ($999/yr)
- Bank account opening (separate post-formation flow; plan 30 to 60 days)
- Any tax filing or accounting (we form the entity; we refer you to a US Enrolled Agent for US tax and do not file it)
- Mail forwarding (we don't sell this; see our blog for why)
We list what's not included on every product page so there are no checkout surprises.
Operator-grade use case
The lighter, lower-cost alternative to a Panama foundation. A foundation is a civil-law vehicle, distinct from a trust: it has its own legal personality and holds assets in its own name, apart from your personal creditors. Operators reach for it when they want a holding structure for asset separation and succession rather than an operating company, and they want it without the Panama price or the Panama reputational drag. Seychelles (SC) is a GRAY jurisdiction; the structure is real, the optics are not for everyone.
Most appropriate for non-US Bitcoiners using the foundation to hold Bitcoin reserves, IP, or other assets apart from personal liability, where foreign-source income carries no Seychelles tax and the counterparties do not run a hard EU-list filter. Seychelles was removed from the EU Annex II monitoring list, so counterparty acceptance is meaningfully better than the Panama foundation, which sits on EU Annex I (the actual blacklist) as of February 2026.
Less ideal for US persons: CFC and Subpart F rules apply, a Seychelles foundation gives no US-tax benefit, and forming one without competent US tax counsel is a mistake. Also less ideal for a large, litigation-heavy asset base that needs the strongest protective wrapper (use the Cook Islands LLC), or for a simple holding company where a foundation is more structure than you need (the Seychelles IBC is cheaper at $1,099).
What you'll need to hand us
- Email address
- Country of residence
- Intended use statement (free-text)
- Government-issued photo ID (passport or national ID)
- Proof of address (utility bill, bank statement, or government letter, dated within 90 days)
- Source-of-funds attestation (drop-down + free text)
- Optional: PEP and adverse-media screening consent
- Everything in Tier 1
- Beneficial owner declaration for every party with 25%+ ownership
- Source-of-wealth documentation (tax return, employment letter, salary, asset proof)
- Manual enhanced-due-diligence reviewer notes from our KYC partner
Common questions
- How is a Seychelles Foundation different from a Panama foundation?
- Same idea, lighter and cheaper. Both are civil-law foundations that hold assets in their own name, apart from personal creditors, with no tax on foreign income. The difference is reputation and cost: Seychelles is off the EU Annex II list, while Panama is on EU Annex I (the blacklist) as of February 2026, so EU counterparties apply more scrutiny to the Panama version. The Seychelles Foundation is $1,499 all-in against the Panama foundation's higher price.
- Is this a foundation or a trust, and how private is it?
- It is a foundation: a vehicle with its own legal personality, distinct from a trust. Seychelles keeps no public register of beneficial owners. The licensed agent collects and holds your UBO records under Seychelles AML rules, which are accessible to the Financial Services Authority and to certain law-enforcement requests; the state does not publish them. UBO is collected at the formation stage by the licensed agent regardless of our platform's KYC tier.
- Does a Seychelles Foundation reduce my taxes if I'm a US person?
- No. For US persons, CFC and Subpart F rules apply and a Seychelles foundation gives no US-tax benefit; forming one without competent US tax counsel is a mistake. We form the entity; we do not file your taxes and refer you to a US Enrolled Agent. The foundation separates assets; it does not change what you owe.
- What does it cost, and can it get a bank account?
- $1,499 all-in, settled in BTC, Lightning, or USDT via BitSettle, government fees included; Year 2 onward is $999/yr. Banking is separate: major US rails do not bank Seychelles structures, so plan on an offshore, Asia-corridor, or Bitcoin-native rail and allow 30 to 60 days with apostilled documents.
Operators usually pair this with
Panama Foundation
Civil-law foundation. EU Annex I: disclosed.
Seychelles IBC
Classic offshore IBC.
Nominee Director / Shareholder
Annual offshore nominee service.
Apostille + Good Standing
Apostille + Good Standing for international banking.