Four European cities have been included in a ranking of the top ten blockchain ecosystems in the world, based on a range of factors.
The list was prepared by Boyd Cohen, co-founder of the Blockchain Cities Alliance, and was published in Breaker magazine. It examined a number of factors to determine the cities which are most friendly to the development of blockchain ecosystems. London, UK and Zug, Switzerland came second and third in the list, respectively, following Singapore in the top spot. Berlin, Germany, and Tallinn, Estonia, came sixth and seventh.
How was the list prepared?
Cohen and his team analysed 11 different datapoints ranging from permissive regulatory conditions to a number of external factors related to smart city development. The specific factors upon which the cities were judged included the number of blockchain-related startups and the number of initial coin offerings – a means of raising capital for startup companies using cryptocurrencies – based in the city.
For this reason, there is a significantly wider geographical distribution of blockchain ecosystems than has been seen with other technologies, the primary example of which is the dominance of Silicon Valley in California, USA, in technologies related to web 2.0. Of the top ten, four are in Europe, three in North America and three in Asia.
Why does Europe have so many blockchain ecosystems?
There are a number of reasons why four European cities of vastly different sizes entered the top ten, including the fact that Zug is something of a tax haven, and as a result is home to more than 450 blockchain-related start-ups and organisations.
In London, meanwhile, the UK government has invested a lot of money in ensuring that the UK retains a world-leading position in the development of blockchain technologies, Cohen argued in his piece. This might be one manner in which the country can weather any financial challenges it faces following Brexit; compounding this resilience is the fact that London is home to the second highest number of blockchain startups in the world.
