Bitcoin Forum

Could London become the capital of cryptocurrencies?
http://www.cityam.com/blog/1401882571/bitcoin-britain-could-london-become-capital-cryptocurrencies

If they do it right they will be the economic capital of the new world economy. I hope they tread lightly with the regulations.

It's good to see some positive talk from them regarding setting up a welcoming environment for innovative bitcoin companies. But I'm always skeptical that things like this will work out as well as some people intend them too. There's definitely going to be some resistance. And since like it says in the article "FCA has not yet made its official position on cryptocurrency clear" we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Tax rates are too high in London, and the rules regarding Bitcoin are too vague. Also, Bitcoin-based firms in London will have to obey the EU rules on money laundering and currency exchange. So... overall not much of a chance.  >:(

Still though positive opinions by a government body is good for bit coin's legitimacy.

Nope. A true cryptocurrency should never have a capital.

Bitcoin and cryptos don't need capitals, they are built to be free, like a bird in the sky, like a cow on the hills, like women in the kitchens.

Tax rates are HUGE in london and they will never be the 'capital' of Bitcoin or any other coins.

Why not? What's wrong with a city embracing bitcoin and having enough merchants and services to be considered the (unofficial of course) capital of bitcoin? I would love a place like that. Some where you can go and know that you can support your self just on bitcoin.

i guess most people here undervalue the impact of such news. in my view that bigger than "xy accepts bitcoin". the regulation is the key.


The UK Digital Currency Association hailed the new guidelines as "some of the most sophisticated and forward-thinking issued by tax authorities anywhere in the world."

The move gave further legitimacy to digital currencies and it was even suggested it could lead to a "gold rush of digital currency businesses to the UK".

Yes. It is the nature of governments to regulate so the idea of them leaving it alone is a pipe dream. I just hope they tread lightly and intelligently with the regulations they do come up with.

Yes, but I see the Swiss city Zug in the pole position.

isn't the UK not so friendly to bitcoin? i'd think maybe a country like germany, or a scandanavian country might be more open to it.

Hopefully it will be The Netherlands

yeah, so we can blow all of our bitcoins by legally banging whores and doing drugs.

Free like women in the kitchens? lol

Extremely wishful thinking - London doesn't even make the top 10 on some Bitcoin lists.

Vancouver, which surprisingly has been absent in the discussion so far, is often regarded as the #1 Bitcoin city in the world.  It has the largest per capita use of Bitcoin for a large city.   It's a metropolitan of 2.4 million people and it has six Bitcoin ATMs (including the first in North America and possibly the world) and 80 merchants, the only cities with more merchants is due to having immensely larger populations than Vancouver (Greater LA which is 16.5 million and greater New York 23.5 million) but we're talking about only a couple more merchants and less ATM coverage (so arguably worse).



The capital of earth in the Mass Effect series is Vancouver.   ;)  ;D

Sure but in London you can buy bangers and mash with Bitcoin.

The UK deals with everything the same way the US does. Accept it, absorb it and regulate it to death. Maybe that's a colonial empire trick? Resistance is futile Bitcoin will be assimilated.

I would think Singapore would be a better contender for a Bitcoin capital than Vancouver.  Vancouver may have the highest per capita use but the law is still ambiguous and the next government could be openly hostile to it.

Which only seems ironic to me.  If Bitcoin is capital, most of that capital is technically Chinese / American / European and having it flow into Canada would be beneficial for the Canadian country (job creation and, even if it's not directly taxed, would increase the tax coffers), but I wouldn't put it past a moronic politician to ruin a good thing.
 

It is far easier to operate a Bitcoin business from Cyprus & Mauritius than from London. The atmosphere is far more friendly in these 2 countries.

Why would you want a bitcoin capital, and what would that accomplish? Naming something a crypto capital is heading towards the direction of centralization. Please keep it as decentralized as possible, we don't need another "Bitcoin Foundation" version 2.0.

It's a good possibility. They just have to play their cards right.

>>"Could London become the capital of cryptocurrencies?"

No. Earth is already the capital of cryptocurrencies.

if they regulate then the price will go up becuase it will me btc more legitimate currency

Positive opinion by the government officials don't mean anything, unless we have a written agreement. These people can change their opinion anytime they want. Positive opinion can suddenly become negative opinion.

Not a single UK bank seems to want to play ball with crypto businesses. London's going to be left far, far behind.

So is the US I think. Though one could argue that banks being interested in bit coin is not a good thing anyway.

The US is a comparative BTC paradise. I'm not sure there's a single above-board crypto business that's maintained a business bank account anywhere in Britain.

A full crypto economy would be great but it's going to have interaction with regular currencies for the foreseeable future so banking relationships will be a necessity for many.

Right, we don't need no stinkin capital city. We need world.

They have a long way to go to compete with the development in Canada
But that said the industry is young and their certainly is a possibility that they could rise up to the capital status
London is a historical financial hub and capital so if it becomes one for crypto as well that would be neat.

Vancouver would be a good candidate for Canada. Toronto is not far behind though.

The Isle of Man have thrown their hat into the ring (http://www.coindesk.com/isle-man-outlines-plans-digital-currency-regulation/).  They've probably got a better chance of attracting new businesses than London because of lower taxes and costs.