Bitcoin Forum

Hello. I would be interested to know if there is a list anywhere that ranks countries according to their "Bitcoin friendliness".

For example, I know from my own experience that Germany is friendlier than Britain. What do I mean by this? I mean it is just easier to transfer money from exchanges to banks and the other way around, the German tax people are generally "cool" with people owning Bitcoin, plus you do not pay capital gains tax on any crypto held longer than a year. Meanwhile, British banks are all angsty and I have heard of people getting their accounts shut down because they transfer fiat to/from an exchange.

Has anyone ever compiled such a list? It would be interesting to do our own rankings, I think, from personal experience!

I know lots of online magazines like Forbes sometimes do lists of "ten Bitcoin-friendly countries". But these sort of articles are usually just fluff (like "ten countries it is easy to retire to" and from experience I know their "lists" are rubbish).

So which are the best from the point of view of the individual like us? I know Germany is pretty good and I would tend to imagine the smaller and more "dynamic" countries like Estonia ought to be better, but what about Asia, Central America, etc? Which country is best of all???

I think no one have that, but this site [1] give a general legality of Bitcoin in most of countries.

You need to know if laws and regulations are always updated based on the current condition, following other country, etc which make complicated to give an actual condition of Bitcoin friendliness in every countries.

India, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan are very like to change their own laws for unban and ban Bitcoin.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cryptocurrency_by_country_or_territory

You can search a similar list with terms like "Bitcoin adoption by country", "Bitcoin legality by country", "Bitcoin development by country" and so on. I've seen a few threads that list the rank of Bitcoin interest by countries just recently, I think you can search it here easily. For example, one of the thread that I've read use this list[1]. The problem is most of the time they never go in-depth and just claim one thing or another from some unverifiable data. If you want to find a detailed report there is none that I know of. CMIIW.

[1] https://www.bworldonline.com/infographics/2022/10/24/482406/philippines-places-2nd-in-the-global-crypto-adoption-index/

List might be changing though as there are countries that might suddenly make a U-turn on how they look at Bitcoin,

Maybe you can look at this list: https://getgoldenvisa.com/crypto-friendly-countries


Each one of them have it's strengths that's why they are in the list. But just like what I said, the list is dynamic, maybe every month you will see it get bump and countries getting into the list.

I think the most coolest & Bitcoin-friendly countries should be "El-Salvador" & "Central African Republic" simply because in those areas Bitcoin is fully legalized as legal tender and as such could be easily accessible by citizens without stress. And secondly, since you have regarded the list given by forbes not to be authentic, I think the only way we can have an authentic data about the most Bitcoin friendly countries in the world is if each and everyone of us can come here & mention how the use of Bitcoin looks like in that particular region, so that at the end, O.P could compare the names of the most friendly regains.

So starting from me, I'm from Nigeria, and Bitcoin is not completed banned, but it was restricted by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2021 under the last administration of president Mohammedu Buhari, due to the fact that they never wanted people to have their funds in Bitcoin rather than banks where they could have total control over it, but with the help of p2p platforms such as "Binance" and "Remitano", Nigerian citizens can now buy and sell Bitcoin in few seconds without stress, which I'm a living witness to that.

Note: But just that you can't buy Bitcoin using bank cards such as Visa or Mastercard.

So that's that for Nigeria.. How about yours?

Don't they charge income tax instead of capital gains tax which can be up to 45%?

Most countries have some set of rules for bitcoin that can be changed in a blinking of an eye if they start feeling threatened. Only a handful of countries have banned bitcoin which can be considered "the worst" and a handful of countries that have actually and fully adopted bitcoin that can be considered "the best" like El-Salvador.
Additionally as long as you are not only trading or involved with centralized services (exchanges, processors, etc.) as an individual using a decentralized currency you shouldn't be affected by the rules.

Yes, there were some reports of some of the UK banks cancelling services to customers involved in crypto trading, but I don't think it was necessarily due to those banks hating on crypto, but more about the fact that such transactions would fall under "suspicious" in their systems. That could mean that such transactions triggered internal investigations, and since the cost of employees' time is not cheap, keeping those customers would mean making losses, so it was easier to just kick them out.
But still, most major banks would not cause you any problems for transferring to/from crypto exchanges. And I think, as crypto becomes more mainstream, "unfriendly" banks will be changing their stance as well, if they haven't already.
Anyhow, just because a few private businesses are not very keen on crypto that doesn't mean the whole country is as well.

I work on contract in some African & BRICS countries and they are quite relaxed when it comes to Crypto currencies. My first destination is always South Africa and then we charter smaller planes to transport us to the neighboring countries. I once saw a Fiat ATM offering a option to buy bitcoins from the ATM.... so I was very intrigued by that.

I think it might be because many of these countries are looking for "cheaper" alternatives to MoneyGram and WU for money transmitters. A lot of their citizens work abroad and they are sending money home.  ;)

Im sure that gov shouldn't know that you have crypto even if it's "friendly"

I agree with this. However, for certain business opportunities they must know. For example, if you need to have a bitcoin mining farm or even if you need to buy something that is very expensive you will have to explain later how you got the money to buy it and if you didn't tell the jail or terrorism court issues will follow you.

It feel like the BTC friendliness fluctuates quite a bit, same for popularity.
There used to be quite a few BTC ATM's in the town im at but now all of them have dissapeared. Im sure it had to do with how many people used them but the other factor is the uncertanty that lack of understandable regulations brings. One one moment everything is fine, the other, its all illegal.

What you're talking about, op, it merely based on a personal experience, while someone else could have it differently. I think I've seen various rankings, but it was about Bitcoin adoption. Some account for legislation when they measure adoption, so it can be partially relevant. I think it would be useful to have a balanced Bitcoin friendliness index that would combine public perception, legislation, de facto stance based on available news, etc.
The thread already has links to Bitcoin legal status by country and adoption by country. I can also see that some lists of crypto-friendly countries are directly based on the legislation they have regarding Bitcoin (here (https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/crypto-friendly-countries/), for example).

Such a policy may be quite extreme and more unfriendly to customers.
Despite engaging in crypto transactions, do they have the right to interfere in private transactions made as long as it is not a crime.

Unless the transactions made exceed a reasonable amount of transactions, seen with very large transactions.
That could possibly be a necessary review.

But if it is just a small trading transaction, let alone a transaction made on a local Exchange that is already registered.
Strict service to their customers is also influenced by regulatory issues.

They have to change their attitude, "Unfriendly" banks will only be the ones that are left behind and cannot evolve with the latest payment technology today.
More rules means more understanding of what their customers are using, more flexibility and not making rules that favor their own company.

I have read before about countries like Slovenia, Switzerland and Netherlands to be the most friendly countries, but it has been long that I have read about this. I do not know if countries like El Salvador and Central Africa Republic would be listed among.

What is most important to people is the countries that adopt bitcoin most, even not minding if the government of the country is fully supporting bitcoin or not. I mean the countries that are buying and trading bitcoin most. Crypto friendly countries should also be among.

This thread is not about having privacy, it is about countries that are bitcoin friendly. With the way people are buying bitcoin this time, it is easy for chain analytic companies and the government to know that they buy crypto.

I speculate that America will be in the Forbes list of top 10 most friendly countries for bitcoin while Blackrock is applying for their spot ETF hehehehe.

Read this article. After years of fud and years of publishing false news that clearly implies that bitcoin mining is destroying the environment, Forbes has become instantly more supportive. Head scratching update from Forbes hehe.



Bitcoin, often criticized for its energy consumption, actually uses less energy than many traditional industries. With an annual consumption of 129.45 TWh, it accounts for only 0.078% of global energy use. In comparison, the gold industry consumes around 240.61 TWh annually, factoring in emissions from various stages of production and refining. The traditional banking system, encompassing data centers, branches, ATMs, and card network data centers, uses even more energy, estimated at around 638.88 TWh annually.

When we delve into the emission intensity (g/kWh) of bitcoin and compare it with other industries, it becomes clear that bitcoin, with an emission intensity of 296 g/kWh and a sustainable energy mix of 52.6%, is more environmentally efficient than many other sectors.

The gold industry, which relies on a combination of non-electrical and electrical power sources, has an even higher emission intensity of 679g/kWh and a sustainable energy mix of a mere 12.8%, according to Goldmoney.com. These figures underscore the critical role of the energy mix in determining the environmental impact, and they position bitcoin in a more favorable light when considering emission intensity.

Source https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/07/07/everything-you-need-to-know-about-bitcoin-and-the-environment/

If you’re planning something over the next few years, I’d stay away from the EU. The EU is clearly showing a stance against what BTC stands for and I think things are only gonna get worse soon. It’s also very important to research what these countries you’re looking into are planning to introduce in their law - they may be friendly countries that are planning stricter crypto laws than other countries are.

Tbh, that’d be a big lie. America is on my personal list somewhere at the bottom of friendliness. Mandatory KYC everywhere, tax forms are a huge pain, no ATMs where you can buy without ID.. it’s really bad.

Is this list accurate and up-to-date?

Because last time I checked, the Netherlands and Canada aren't too crypto-friendly. They still have excessive regulations...
Similarly, Luxembourg taxes cryptos enormously, ranging from 0 to over 50% depending on the conditions (0 being for donations and gifts in crypto).

I have some doubts about the quality of this list personally.

However, Malta, Slovenia, Portugal, Germany and Croatia are excellent countries for Europeans when it comes to crypto taxation. Bulgaria and Estonia also benefit from pretty low taxes. France should be avoided, as should Italy and Austria, for example.

Outside Europe, Singapore is a good country when it comes to crypto tax, Malaysia too, the Cayman Islands, (Puerto Rico has a special status too which is very interesting), and Georgia is top of the top.

As for crypto-friendly usage and culture, because I think OP is not just talking about taxes, it's still harder to come up with a list of countries, things change quickly, and most countries are on an equal footing in this respect.

Bitcoin is built not to be used in friendly countries because governments will not always be friendly with citizens. They want to control everything so you can call something like friendly under their laws and regulations, do you want such?

Use Bitcoin be free from governments, you can do it with Bitcoin, Bitcoin decentralized exchanges, no KYC.

https://kycnot.me/

The problem is probably your wording OP, if you don't specify what you look for, search engines will try to get close to what you mean without giving what you're looking for, I don't know your parameters about what constitutes a bitcoin friendly country but I found one that might help you, you've mentioned Germany which is already on the list but there are some you might be interested in.

https://www.tryspeed.com/blog/top-12-crypto-tax-free-countries-2023/

You cannot get a comparative list except from users that have experienced Bitcoin in different countries. I can tell you from the point of view of a Nigerian as well as some other African countries.
You will need to collect the experiences of forum users from Asia, Europe, America (North and South) and then draw a comparison on which is more friendly than the other.

The list may not be too comprehensive but can give a general idea of which is best. A good questionnaire will also help shape the answers.

The term "friendly" and "legal" are much different, though being used synonymously here because of the common people's approach.

Asian countries have been opposing crypto for much time now. Comparatively Americana and European countries have been lax. I think the wikipedia article on bitcoin legality gives the best idea till date, but we are lacking in country-specific data from the crypto communities in those countries. Also the number of Bitcoin ATMs in a country show the West>East government-acceptance of crypto to be much higher.

Maybe OP could run a survey on the different local boards in this forum to gather this data and publish it.

European countries aren’t as lax as you think. Most of them actually have pretty strict laws, it’s just that very few truly follow them. It’s getting quite hard to be anonymous here in Europe too and all governments are trying to come after us. After all, they even publicly said they’re not the best friends to crypto land, calling out BTC for its “illegal usage” especially in recent years..

Currently there is no official list of the friendliness of using Bitcoin in a country although there are some media that release the problem but there is no accuracy so it is considered junk news, so this is indeed something that must be made a survey by the media so that we know the most friendly countries using Bitcoin and the government accepts without any restrictions in using Bitcoin, But for a country that is already using crypto for legal tender and I think this is a country that is friendly to the use of Bitcoin.

I don't know if there is such a list, but they are working to tax bitcoin in the country I live in now. They will probably deduct taxes from the money you throw in the stock market through banks. This tax will be directly proportional to the size of the money you will transfer. The news that is spoken now is like this, but I hope it is not true.

If bitcoin is not banned in a country, their approach to bitcoin is similar. They are looking for ways to ask additional taxes from those who invest only with bitcoin.

If there is a sequence or list, I'm sure it varies a lot. Because as a result of negative news, their attitude towards Bitcoin changes immediately. That's why I never looked at the rankings.

As far as I know, there is no website that lists crypto-friendly countries. But countries like Luxemberg, Malta, El Salvador are countries that are cryptocurrency friendly, and for other countries you can search on Google. And other countries such as Germany, America, and many other countries can be said to be quite friendly to cryptocurrencies, but because of their strict regulations it makes them seem like they are not friendly to cryptocurrencies, but so far people have not found problems using cryptocurrencies in these countries, it's just that limited use.

Some users are mentioning Taxes and KYC as criteria for "bitcoin friendliness". I have to say I disagree. Not having any taxes on bitcoin doesn't make a country bitcoin friendly and having KYC doesn't make one not-friendly. It depends on how much restrictions the government is placing in front of bitcoin adoption. KYC could exist and yet not restrict adoption, meanwhile they could have 0 tax on bitcoin and yet shut your bank account if you use an exchange!

Well you can find a lot of lists online but mostly, they are based on the government's stand towards crypto. Like how they regulate crypto and also the population of people using Bitcoin and crypto. But if you're looking for a list based on experiences, it would be hard to say. Personally, I don't have much knowledge about other countries' openness towards Bitcoin and the use of crypto so I can't really compare it here in my country. Unless you've been travelling a lot and exploring crypto experiences with different countries, then maybe you can create your own list.

But probably those developed countries are top when it comes to lists since they're often advanced and open towards innovation.

You still haven't found out that Bitcoin is no longer "legal" in CAR? Even when it was official, what do you think it looked like in real life, most people don't even have the internet, let alone know what Bitcoin is?

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Considering that I am a resident of one of the listed countries, I can say that i really have no objections regarding taxes because it is possible to pay 0% tax if a certain condition is met (sale 1 or 2 years after the investment). As for other things, I can say that there are no bans on using BTC and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method, and many are adding this option to their online stores using payment processors that of course protect them from the volatility of cryptocurrencies.

I am sure you can google it and get a list of bitcoin friendly country compiled by someone. And yeah, the list might look like some random countries complied, but then it is up to you to do your research and decide which is the best for you. What might be best for someone, might not be best for you. Maybe a country has very friendly bitcoin law, but the quality of life over there isn't good, so moving there might not be worth it. I did google it and yeah, Germany is actually in the top in most cases. Little bit surprised to see that El Salvador didn't make it to the top on any list.

China is already letting Hong Kong to use bitcoin and several crypto-related companies have been opening in the last months so my guess is that they are slowly changing their mind and in the next future they will do the same also on Mainland China. They are not stupid, if the rest of the world is embracing bitcoin why would they be left behind? No idea about the other countries you mentioned.

Bitcoin is an authentic decentralized cryptocurrency, in contrast to governments which are centralized organizations that consistently strive for control over everything. As a result, it becomes challenging to compile an up-to-date and comprehensive list of countries that have embraced Bitcoin, as each country has the ability to modify its regulations as it sees fit. Nevertheless, you can gain a general understanding by referring to a few sources available on Google.

It varies and I think it depends on the source. I've gone through it and I don't accept the compilation. I used to think Switzerland is the most crypto-friendly nation in the world based on some articles I read but it's very surprising to see them at the bottom. This source puts them in the second position after Germany; https://nomadcapitalist.com/finance/cryptocurrency/the-most-and-the-least-crypto-friendly-countries-in-the-world/ and this other source places them on second spot after Singapore; https://learn.bybit.com/investing/most-crypto-friendly-countries/

High taxes effectively limits Bitcoin profitability, though.

I've seen some countries float the idea of a "wealth tax" on crypto meaning  holding some amount of crypto and not liquidating would incur tax liability if you happen to profit from your holdings. The tax code is already complicated enough in the U.S., and most European countries have high tax rates -- it's enough to deter crypto growth.

"Friendless" countries IMO are those with low regulation and low tax rates. South America and some APAC countries are far better for Bitcoin than the U.S., Europe, China, India, etc.

Agreed. It will only be another storyline created for the purpose of collective brainwashing and it should be expected hehehe. Blackrock owns shares of many mainstream news media companies in America and it would not be shocking if they also own shares of the company that has corporate control on Forbes magazine.

These people are our owners. They control the companies of almost everything we use and buy in our daily lives. What we wear, what we eat, where we work, much of everything.

Flags in Bitcoin Treasuries (https://buybitcoinworldwide.com/treasuries/) show the USA. is a most appearing country in the list. Are these flags useful to consider what country is most Bitcoin friendliness?

Bitcoin nodes are mostly run by people in the USA. Is it enough to call the USA. as a most friendly nation for Bitcoin?

I believe it is not enough because more companies are moving out of the USA. Friendly policies can change to unfriendly policies by governments like China wanted to crack down Bitcoin mining and things changed after a few days.

https://bitnodes.io/

This could be interesting project and will give clear idea about country and their approaches. I think we will need to plot the specific criteria which will define who should be better than the other one. Let us say adoption status, legality status in the country, number of users, generated address, bitcoin ATM, exchangers volume for that particular country. These could form the basic structure for this purpose and can end up having this compilation as mentioned in the OP. I might do this because it seems very good idea. More data can be think about but will need to search over the web for the same. What do you guys think about such idea?

I don't think China is changing its mind regarding the ban on Bitcoin. This is because there has been a massive promotion of the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). The government is giving incentives to Chinese citizens to use digital yaun. The Chinese government just started a program that offers highly discounted transport fares to people that will pay with the digital yaun.

The major criterion for evaluating how friendly nations are to Bitcoin is government policies. A favorable policy will attract more investors because they will be sure that their investment is protected by the law. A good law will give rise to more ATMs, the establishment of more exchanges, and an increase in the volume of transactions. In Africa, countries like Algeria, Egypt, Libya, and Morocco are very unfriendly to bitcoin. While in other countries it is alegal, which is neither legal nor illegal. While countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia bitcoin are friendly to Bitcoin.

I remember back then, only Germany is a country that is totally friendly with bitcoins, and now look at that, we have many countries that are willing to show their support and courage to show others that they don't really care whether the others are hostile against bitcoins and here they are fully putting their trust in it and the miners operating in their country as well. Maybe if only those hostile countries are neutral and let the miners do their job freely by just paying some taxes that they need to pay, we might get huge progress throughout these years despite the hostility of the banks for bitcoins.

I was doing some research because the question caught my attention... well, with all the talk about Salvador and its great acceptance by BTC, I thought it would be in top 1, but according to this website it is positioned at number 3.

Website: https://originstamp.com/blog/top-5-crypto-friendly-countries/

This year, 2023, he has carried out a study where it is observed that the country most friendly to Bitcoin is Japan, since we must remember that it approved a law that approves BItcoin as a currency for legal use. This in one country leads a business conglomerate to incorporate BTC as a payment method.

As you had commented that Germany is more of a friend of Bitcoin than Great Britain, certainly since we see it in the number 2 position. The Ministry of Finance of this country in 2013 declared Bitcoin as: "unit of account" Something quite favorable for the legality of bitcoin After Germany would be El Salvador, since most of us already know how this country has welcomed Btcoin enormously. It is a top 5 of 2023 you can see it in the link above

And that particular country in question should be el Salvador and central African republic, because based  on stats gathered about this two country, they seem to be only two countries currently accepting bitcoin as a legal tender and at such I think calling them bitcoin friendly is definitely correct although there are some European country like Switzerland where bitcoin use is also very active, but i would only count these other country when actually full adoption and use as legal tender has fully taken place.

Two legal tender countries (https://coinmarketcap.com/legal-tender-countries/) are El Salvador and Central African Republic according to Coinmarketcap.

They are first countries make Bitcoin legal tender but they are not first countries where people use bitcoin. The hub of Bitcoin communities is in the USA, North America and Europe and it won't be shifted to other continents, countries too quickly.

Those two legal tender countries don't contribute too much on trading volume of Bitcoin as well as bitcoin transactions but we must appreciate their initiatives to make Bitcoin legal tender. By using legal tender stories from two nations, I want to say the same about Bitcoin friendly nations.

Asia isn't non-existent either. Take Singapore, for example, which is extremely BTC-friendly, or Thailand, where BTC is widely used.
Similarly, if you look at the number of Indian users who are involved in some way in BTC-related business (even if their regulations and laws are not specifically BTC-friendly, on the contrary), I don't think we should forget Asia. What's more, it's the biggest "market" in the world.

About El Salvador, what counts is not trading volume in my opinion. It doesn't really matter. What El Salvador brings, is confidence. By making BTC a legal tender, they gave a lot of people confidence that BTC was here to stay. Likewise, they're producing some excellent innovations in the BTC mining field, and I'm convinced that sooner or later, the lead they're taking will make them ideal advisors on how to run a business model that accepts Bitcoin on a great scale.

If they wrote that BTC is legal tender on the moon, would you still believe them? I don't know how many times I need to write that the CAR gave up on that law, but even if it wasn't, I don't know what the point of Bitcoin is in a country where the majority of the population does not have access to the internet...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5396366.msg61995837#msg61995837

Asian countries do influence Bitcoin. Bitcoin's decentralization and portability make it appealing. Singapore and Thailand's hospitality may inspire neighbors.

India's crypto-renaissance is underway. The Indian Bitcoin community has persevered and innovated despite legislative uncertainty.

El Salvador: trustworthy? Right on! Trading volume is immaterial. By reducing barriers and building confidence, cryptocurrencies can become mainstream. The cryptocurrency business was shaped by El Salvador's legalization of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin mining has also improved. They appear to be creating a "crypto masterclass" for everyone. Blockchain technology could make societies more open, efficient, and egalitarian.