According to Coincub, Germany has become the most crypto-friendly country in 2022. Germany allows its long-term domestic savings industry to utilize crypto investments, supported by its zero-tax policy on long-term capital gains from crypto, and its number of Bitcoin and Ethereum nodes is second only to the United States.
Top 5 crypto countries in 2022
1. Germany
2. Singapore
3. USA
4. Australia
5. Switzerland
Here are a few among many other reasons why Germany ranks top.
1. Early Blockchain adoption
In 2019, Germany was the first country to adopt a blockchain strategy to harness the technology’s potential for advancing digital transformation and to help make it an attractive hub for the development of blockchain, Web3 and metaverse applications in fintech, climate tech, business and govtech, including Germany’s digital identities project.
2. Increased Crypto adoption
As of the end of 2021, approximately 2.6% of Germans have used cryptocurrency. And according to a recent report from KuCoin, 44% percent of Germans are motivated to invest in crypto. Germany is among the top 10 countries for crypto mining and is home to the European Union’s largest mining company, Northern Data which is powered almost entirely by renewable energy.
3. High number of Start-ups
Numerous blockchain start-ups and important angel investors have settled in Germany’s crypto capital of Berlin, but also in Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg.
4. Supporting Central bank digital currency
According to a survey from Germany’s central bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, the share of cash payments in point-of-sale transactions made by German consumers dropped from 74% in 2017 to 60% in 2020. Accordingly, the Bundesbank has been working on distributed ledger technology asset settlements.
5. Early involvement in Non-fungible tokens and the metaverse
The metaverse is the next wave of Web3, changing how we interact, socialize, work, play video games, fund charities, purchase and sell nonfungible tokens, and attend concerts, sports events and conferences. In 2017, the ZKM Centre for Art and Media in Karlsruhe acquired a number of NFTs, well ahead of the craze of 2021. Since the onset of the NFT craze, German sportswear company Adidas has teamed up with Bored Ape Yacht Club and Prada for a charitable climate-focused NFT art project on the Polygon blockchain to raise awareness. Additionally, the German auto company Volkswagen has launched a successful interactive NFT ad campaign.
6. Successful fight against Illicit use of crypto
Germany is a member of Europol’s Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce, which works to fight transnational cybercrime. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office took down the servers of Hydra, the world’s largest illegal dark web marketplace also offering money laundering services that enabled the conversion of cryptocurrency into Russian rubles. Taken together with the sanctions against Garantex, Suex and Chatex last year, government agencies are clearly targeting cashout points that cybercriminals use for ransomware, darknet market sales, scamming and, potentially, sanctions evasion.”
7. Regulation of digital assets
Germany is one of the few countries in Europe that has started to regulate cryptocurrencies ahead of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, regulation.
Sven Franssen