Top 5 cryptocurrency hubs in the world and why are they winning the early-mover race

Dr Vin Menon
5 min readFeb 7, 2023

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Cryptocurrency has grown to become one of the most significant investment assets globally. Are you also one of those who have created an investment portfolio with crypto assets? Well, this is not just limited to one region; the world is experiencing a wave of cryptocurrency investments because of the gains that the crypto assets provided in the recent past. As of December 2022, crypto assets are at a very low price following a market crash. This is why people wish to accumulate as much diversification in their portfolio as possible. According to a report, cryptocurrency adoption rose by over 880 percent in 2021 during the bull run.

Along with citation to profit over investments, people put their money into cryptocurrency because of devaluing fiat currencies. The current economic scenarios are different from traditional trading methods. This has given rise to several investment hubs globally that deal with crypto assets. Many cities/countries have become a cryptocurrency hub following the rise in interest from the people. To understand why these investment hubs are gaining popularity, let’s get into their functioning and understand them better.

United States (New York/California)

Source / Silicon Valley and New York being supportive of decentralized finance

China banned cryptocurrency in 2021 while it was still a major hub for crypto assets. This gave the US a chance to shift the momentum towards itself, and the crypto gains for investors in the country started to rise. Investors gained over 476 percent as compared to 2020 in the year 2021. Total invested funds rose from $8.1B to $47B in just one year. Moreover, the US has become a hub for crypto mining and is accountable for one-third of the crypto assets mined. This makes the country even more suitable for being a cryptocurrency hub. Major firms in this country have also started showing interest in crypto assets. Tesla had earlier announced that they would accept payments in crypto. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and various other firms have launched their crypto assets groups and blockchain groups. Also, New York was the city that got the highest venture capital investment in crypto assets. California has ranked second in this domain, meaning the US has become one of the top investment hubs for crypto enthusiasts.

United Kingdom (London)

The United Kingdom has been taking huge steps to become a global cryptocurrency hub. The government had announced its plans to regulate the stablecoins, a bridge between the crypto assets and the central bank’s digital currencies. The country was experiencing gains of over 431 percent in 2021 while becoming one of the biggest investment hubs for cryptocurrency.

Several financial institutes in the country also support crypto assets, making the country a great place for investors. Even the government of the country supports cryptocurrency and decentralized finance. They have plans to legislate a financial market infrastructure sandbox for the companies working in the cryptocurrency domain. Even the royal mint of the UK is planning to launch its NFT, which is a huge step towards becoming a cryptocurrency hub. More than two hundred crypto companies have their headquarters in London, which makes the city a potential central cryptocurrency hub for the country.

United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

Source / UAE being a cryptocurrency hub

The UAE, especially Dubai, has always supported the digital era and accelerated its plans to accept decentralized finance. Dubai has also announced a regulatory framework for crypto assets and plans to increase support for cryptocurrencies. Moreover, the whole country has a supportive environment for crypto companies to come and set up their headquarters. The ease of doing business factor is quite great in this country. Binance, FTX, Crypto.com, and many more countries have announced their plans for foreign direct investments into the country. The United Arab Emirates is growing to become one of the most advanced technological hubs in the world. Citing this goal, the country aims to become a cryptocurrency hub.

Switzerland (Zurich)

The Swiss government passed a DLT act or the blockchain law, which provided clarity over the ledger-based securities and digital securities exchanges. The country has an open approach towards supporting crypto assets and has the headquarters of the major cryptocurrency developers. The Cardano Foundation, Web3 Foundation, and Ethereum Foundation have their headquarters in Zug. This is largely because of the Swiss government’s supportive policies over crypto assets and the support from major financial institutes.

Zurich is famous for its banking sector, and this huge financial backdrop supports decentralized finance. This country is often referred to as the ‘crypto valley’ of Europe because all the financial institutes support crypto companies and the government. Switzerland is, therefore, on the road to becoming a cryptocurrency hub.

Singapore

With Hong Kong experiencing political unrest, Singapore has taken charge of becoming a cryptocurrency hub. Singapore is a hub for the digital era. This trend has continued even in the cryptocurrency space. Easy foreign direct investment policies have attracted several crypto companies in the country along with investors. Although the new financial services and markets bills have tightened the regulation over cryptocurrency investments, the region is still becoming one of the top investment hubs in Asia. The country has strong support from major crypto exchanges, investment firms, and various financial institutes. This is why you can count it as one of the top cryptocurrency investment hubs globally.

Conclusion

You must have understood how multiple countries/cities are trying to become major cryptocurrency hubs. Cryptocurrency is one of the fastest-growing investment assets in the world. It has been able to provide good profits to investors. Moreover, it brings a solid step towards completely decentralized finance.

Becoming a cryptocurrency hub earlier in the race for global crypto domination will prove to be a great step for the countries in the longer run. So, these countries are set on their path to be investment hubs for crypto assets and be the fastest runners in this race.

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Dr Vin Menon

A blockchain enthusiast and entrepreneur’s musings on the next big revolution since the Internet.