5 Governments That Actually Support Blockchain Innovation
As regulation drama looms in the US and China, let’s take a look at the governmental bodies who are the biggest supporters of decentralization around the world…
Whether it’s good news or bad, it’s often the United States and China who dominate headlines whenever governmental regulation of blockchain technology spills into mainstream coverage. But the decentralization movement is the most widely global of any social or enterprise phenomenon to ever occur, and it’s important to keep in mind that people all over the world have dedicated themselves to the development of blockchain technology. The laws of one single government could never play a definitive role in its fate. For example, just take a look at the world map of nodes on the Ethereum network.
While blockchain is undoubtedly a democratized movement — and much to the chagrin of the more libertarian members of our community — some degree of governmental refereeing of digital currency is considered inevitable by most. But while US and Chinese governments approach blockchain innovation with some degree of skepticism, and ultimately seek to control its fate, there are many places in the world where blockchain start-ups and digital currencies are encouraged — and in some cases, supported — to disrupt the status quo by the state apparatus that (claims to) govern them.
Here’s a list of five countries with governments that actually support blockchain innovation…
Switzerland
A center of international banking for over a century thanks to a long-standing tradition of wealth, privacy, loose regulation, and geopolitical neutrality, Switzerland has set the early standards as a hub for blockchain technology. The country is home to many of today’s most prominent blockchain start-ups. Status, Bancor, Melonport, and even SingularDTV maintain headquarters in Zug, a small, lakeside town of just 30,000 that has assumed the moniker “Crypto Valley,” inspired by the incubator of the same name. With scores of developers and entrepreneurs arriving in the town every week, major initiatives like Crypto Valley Labs just announced, and some very encouraging signs from the local government, Switzerland — and Zug in particular — is the current European capital of blockchain.
Singapore
Over on the other side of the globe, Singapore — a thriving Asian city-state with a government that favors tax-friendly regulations and strong support of financial technology — has established itself as blockchain homebase east. Recently, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced plans to tokenize the Singaporean Dollar on the Ethereum Network, while also allocating over $225 million dollars to blockchain research and development, all part of its Project Ubin initiative to integrate blockchain tech into the governmental and financial apparatus of Singapore.
Gibraltar
A tiny British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of Spain, Gibraltar’s location as the gateway to the Mediterranean sea has meant the protectorate of less than 35,000 has always played an outsized role in international trade and finance. A large and growing number of blockchain enterprises are registered in the country, and this May, the Ministry of Commerce released an encouraging early draft of proposed regulations for public comment. This was followed up last week when the Gibraltar Stock Exchange announced plans to “fully integrate” blockchain into its trading and settlement systems. Maybe it’s time to start calling Gibraltar “The Block Rock.”
Russia
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin was initially a renowned skeptic on blockchain and digital currency, it seems he’s had a change of heart and gone full crypto since meeting Ethereum progenitor Vitalik Buterin this June Since then, the Russian government has launched into full-blown crypto-mania. Russia’s two largest banks have collaborated on their own distributed ledger — Masterchain — while the Ethereum Foundation has launched a Russia-based wing, and even airlines and fast-food chains have hopped on the blockchain hype wave. The Russian government has also signaled plans for investment in digital currency mining, and a host of regulations are said to be forthcoming.
Estonia
Perhaps no government has shown more eagerness to experiment with decentralization than Estonia. All the way back in 2014, the little Baltic nation initiated its “E-Resident” program, allowing people from all over the world to become digital citizens of Estonia and register their business there. As the blockchain revolution kicked into gear, the synergy it shared with the Estonian government became clear. Unofficial as of now, there has been talk of Estonia launching the very first government-backed ICO — ESTcoin — in conjunction with its E-Resident digital ecosystem.
…And these countries are not even nearly the extent of encouraging governmental involvement with blockchain tech around the world. Central banks in Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, India, Thailand, Korea, even Papua New Guinea, are working on or have released prototypes of distributed ledger programs and blockchain initiatives. And, although it may be slower than many would like, even the US and China are coming around. This month, the United States Federal Reserve indicated that it is looking into adopting the blockchain to replace many parts of its infrastructure.
There will be many bumps along the way to global adoption of blockchain technology, particularly in regards to how governments around the world deal with the reality of a decentralized, empowered population, but it’s always useful to keep an eye on the big picture. And judging by the amount of development going on around the world right now, it is a very big picture indeed.
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