Coin Center Travel Series: How cryptocurrency is being used around the world
We want to learn more about the growth of cryptocurrency technology in other countries, so we sent someone to find out.
When we speak to policymakers, we often point to the innovation happening overseas as a reminder that, even though the United States has traditionally had a strong position in digital tech, there is a lot of competition in the blockchain innovation landscape.
Cryptocurrency is a global phenomenon. There are enthusiast and developer communities springing up in every country. Yet coverage in the United States has been limited so far to what’s happening in Silicon Valley, New York, China, Korea, Japan or Switzerland.
We want to craft policies that give people in the US the best shot at benefiting – while minimizing costs – from this new wave of technological change. To do this it is helpful to understand the attitudes toward, the actual uses (if any) of, and the effects of government policy on cryptocurrencies in other countries.
So we are announcing the Coin Center Crypto Around The World Travel Diary series.
Our intrepid researcher and Coin Center Fellow Benjamin Dean (@BenjaminDean), who was recently based in Washington DC with the Center for Democracy and Technology, will be traveling around the world to meet with companies, developers, miners and others who make up various cryptocurrency communities.
How are cryptocurrencies actually being used? Are economic conditions having an effect on cryptocurrency use? How have government initiatives affected local cryptocurrency adoption? Are particular coin characteristics favored in certain parts of world? Ben’s mission is to answer these questions – and more – as he spends the next year meeting the people involved in this exciting and emerging technological space.
Here’s Ben’s itinerary:
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Valencia, Spain
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Kyoto, Japan
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Lima, Peru
- Bogota, Colombia
- Medellín, Colombia and Venezuela
- Mexico City, Mexico
We will be posting a dispatch from each location after his visit. Hopefully, with Ben’s help, and your involvement**, we can all learn more about the global reach of these technologies together.
**If you live in one of these cities and would like to help show Ben around please send him an email at crypto@iconoclast.tech.