The six best golden visa alternatives for London’s crypto wealthy

Golden visa alternatives are the residency-by-investment routes still open to UK nationals now that Spain has closed its investor visa and Britain sits outside the EU’s freedom of movement. For London’s crypto wealthy, the question is no longer whether a European base is worth having but which of the remaining programs actually fits a portfolio built on digital assets. 

Spain shut its golden visa to new applicants in April 2025, Portugal has dropped real estate from its program, and Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme was struck down by the EU Court of Justice. What is left in 2026 is a shorter, stricter list of six credible routes.

Key takeaways

• Spain’s golden visa closed in April 2025, pushing UK investor demand toward Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

• Portugal’s fund route has the lowest physical presence requirement of any active EU program.

• Italy offers the lowest official entry point in the EU at 250,000 euros through innovative startups.

• Crypto-derived wealth is acceptable in every program listed, with source-of-funds documentation the main hurdle.

1. Portugal’s golden visa fund route

Portugal removed real estate from its golden visa in 2023, but the program is very much alive. The main route today is a 500,000 euro subscription into a CMVM-regulated Portuguese investment fund, and a small number of regulated funds now invest specifically in the Bitcoin ecosystem. 

That means London investors can get EU residency with Bitcoin exposure baked into the qualifying investment itself rather than rotating fully into traditional assets. Platforms such as Bitizenship have built their Portugal offering around exactly this structure. 

Known for: the lowest stay requirement in the EU, at seven days in year one and fourteen days per subsequent two-year period, making it viable for founders who intend to keep living in London. The 2026 nationality reform extended the citizenship timeline to ten years for most applicants, so Bitizenship and other specialists now position Portugal as a residency and optionality play rather than a fast passport.

2. Italy’s investor visa

Italy runs the most underrated program on this list, with applications up 63.3 per cent year-on-year in 2025. The startup route requires just 250,000 euros in an Italian innovative startup, the lowest official threshold in the EU, and those startups can themselves be Bitcoin-native businesses. 

Known for: pairing residency with a flat-tax regime on foreign income that is highly relevant for anyone sitting on large unrealised crypto gains, plus no minimum stay to maintain the permit.

3. Greece’s golden visa

Greece is the last major program still anchored in property, tiered at 250,000 euros for select restoration projects, 400,000 euros in most of the country, and 800,000 euros in prime zones. 

Known for: zero stay requirements and broad family inclusion. The trade-offs are a slow practical path to citizenship and prime pricing already inflated by visa demand.

4. Hungary’s guest investor program

Relaunched in July 2024, Hungary’s core route is 250,000 euros into a fund registered with the Hungarian National Bank in exchange for a ten-year residence permit, renewable for ten more. 

Known for: the longest single permit validity in Europe and no minimum stay, offset by a young fund market and a less established citizenship path.

5. Malta’s permanent residence programme

Malta’s transactional passport scheme is gone, but the MPRP survived and grants permanent residency from day one through a government contribution, a property purchase or lease, and a donation, with all-in costs from roughly 150,000 euros. 

Known for: being the only English-speaking EU jurisdiction on this list, with family inclusion spanning multiple generations and a regulator comparatively fluent in digital assets.

6. Cyprus permanent residence

Cyprus grants permanent residence from 300,000 euros in property, processed in two to three months and maintained with one visit every two years. Known for: no wealth, inheritance, or gift taxes, and a non-dom regime exempting dividends and interest for up to seventeen years, a strong endgame for investors planning a real relocation.

How the six routes compare

Final thoughts

Spain’s exit thinned the field, but it also clarified it. Portugal wins on flexibility and thematic alignment for Bitcoin holders, Italy on price and tax design, Greece on tangible assets, Hungary on permit longevity, Malta on language and family scope, and Cyprus on long-term tax outcomes. 

All six remain open, regulated, and realistic, and if the last three years prove anything, it is that these programs change faster than the people planning around them.