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Cryptocurrency Insights World-Region-Country

NYC Most Crypto Friendly City in US Whilst Ljubljana, Slovenia Takes Top Spot Globally

Fast Private Jet, the business aviation company, has published research on the best destinations for crypto savvy travellers, indexing cities with the most venues accepting digital currency payments in places such as hotels, restaurants and shops.

The research comes at a time when digital token popularity is at a high: cryptocurrencies are gaining hold in the mainstream world on their way to mass adaptation, and with this, comes the rise of locations to use these coins to pay for goods and services.

Slovenian capital city, Ljubljana, revealed as the most crypto-friendly destination in Europe

RankCountryCityAttractionCafe/FoodLodgingNightlifeShoppingSportsTransport
1SloveniaLjubljana01230723317
2Czech RepublicPrague333852734
3SpainMadrid1913261334
4ItalyRome052021614
5AustriaVienna39841142
6LithuaniaVilnius17451702
7DenmarkCopenhagen1616601
8GermanyBerlin314511712
9FranceParis115012731
10SlovakiaBratislava211201735
11NetherlandsAmsterdam215401302
12GreeceAthens15113412
13CroatiaZagreb13013114
14FinlandHelsinki0623610
15United KingdomLondon22411502

Coming in first place, the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana is by far the most crypto-friendly capital in Europe. With 72 shops and 33 sports venues accepting payments through digital currencies, travellers looking to leave their fiat at home could call this paradise.

Slovenia’s largest shopping centre, coincidentally named ‘BTC’, is attempting to become a “Bitcoin City” itself, and it has been reported that past year that Slovenia as a country has more physical locations accepting cryptocurrency payments than the entire United States.

Slovenia has the highest market capitalisation per capita of blockchain. As Slovenia is fast becoming engrossed in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, the country is also facing new legislation around cryptocurrency to determine how crypto holdings and transactions are going to be taxed. The country’s government is looking to adopt a 10 per cent flat tax for people exchanging cryptocurrency for fiat money which would also apply for purchases made with crypto.

Prague in the Czech Republic came out as the 2nd best crypto-friendly destination in Europe. The city has one of the world’s first Bitcoin-only coffee-house, Paralelní Polis. Prague has been known for its advancements in the everyday use of crypto where people can go buy their shopping, see a film and even pay their rent.

Spain’s capital, Madrid, comes third in the rankings for Europe. In 2021 Spain created new legislation around the use of cryptocurrency for businesses, but there is still little regulation around spending cryptocurrency in the country. Spain still doesn’t recognise cryptocurrency as ‘legal tender’ but Spaniards can choose to buy gift cards for stores using their cryptocurrency, which they can then use online and in-store in clothing shops and on tech and electronics such as Netflix subscription gift cards and Amazon (ES).

Malta is the least crypto-friendly country in Europe with zero amenities

There are currently no regulations around cryptocurrency in Malta. Although there are no restrictions to the exchange, mining, trading and investing of Bitcoin, the country is still behind its European neighbours when it comes to places to splash your digital cash. According to coinmap, Malta’s capital Valletta does not have anywhere for people visiting the city to go and spend their cryptocurrency.

Other cities with surprisingly few places to spend crypto include Luxembourg and Monaco. These destinations are sought after luxury holiday destinations – with Luxembourg being the wealthiest nation in Europe and Monaco known to be a favourite destination of the rich and famous. Due to the audience these destinations attract, we expect to see more crypto-friendly spots appear in these metropolises in the near future.

New York is the USA’s top destination for bitcoin-savvy travellers

New York City, home to the most iconic financial district in the world, tops the list of most crypto-friendly destinations to visit in the United States.

The city has numerous options for spending your cryptocurrency, whether on shopping, eating at La Sirène in Soho or even a night out. Recently, the senior executive director of NYC’s Office of Nightlife, Ariel Palitz, stated that “crypto’s effect on the industry in New York is inevitable” and this can be seen through the increase in venues accepting crypto payment across the city.

California’s biggest cities Los Angeles and San Francisco come 2nd and 3rd respectively in our ranking for most crypto-friendly cities in the US. Los Angeles is home to one of the first restaurants to accept crypto payments in the US back since as early as 2013. The city is seeing a growing number of restaurants, shops and even property developers and landlords accepting crypto payments. With the famous Staples Centre set to become the Crypto.com Arena, the city is making moves towards becoming a more crypto-friendly destination.

San Francisco may not have as many places to eat and shop with cryptocurrency as LA, but the home of Silicon Valley has 437 bitcoin ATMs in the Bay Area alone – including 65 dotted around the city. The tech capital is fast on the heels of its competitor cities to become the most crypto-friendly US city.

Slovenia, Czech Republic and Buenos Aires rank top most crypto-friendly global cities globally

Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana tops the rankings globally for most crypto-friendly destinations, followed by Prague – but when taking into account other countries worldwide, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Tokyo in Japan take 3rd and 4th spot.

Until the end of 2021 crypto exchanges in Argentina did not incur taxes because they were part of an exemption. However, due to the increase of cryptocurrency purchase in the region, at the end of 2021 Argentinian officials announced a plan to tax crypto exchanges.

The USA has the highest number of crypto ATM’s in the world

To find out the most crypto-friendly countries in the world, we also wanted to find out where it is easiest to turn your cryptocurrency into fiat. We looked at which countries have the highest number of crypto ATM’s enabling people to do so:

RankCountryNumber of ATMs
1United States30963
2Canada2273
3El Salvador205
4Spain199
5Poland143
6Switzerland142
7Austria142
8Hong Kong139
9Romania117
10United Kingdom106

The US has the largest number of crypto ATM’s in the world with 30,963 found across the states. Los Angeles is home to 1862 crypto ATMs alone. The top cities in the US for crypto ATM’s are:

  1. Los Angeles, California – 1862
  2. Houston, Texas – 1136
  3. Dallas, Texas – 1133
  4. Chicago, Illinois – 1075
  5. Atlanta, Georgia – 916
  6. Detroit, Michigan – 787
  7. Miami, Florida – 764
  8. Orlando, Florida – 740
  9. Tampa, Florida – 642
  10. Boston, Massachusetts – 586

Least crypto friendly countries: China and Qatar among those who have banned cryptocurrency

Whilst some countries still have a long way to go in terms of crypto adaptation and the spread of payment methods across services, some locations across the globe have very strict regulations or have outright banned digital currencies such as Bitcoin, making it difficult for consumers and businesses alike to join the crypto revolution.

One of the most well-known cases of such a crypto ban is China. The blanket ban was put into force in multiple phases, starting with prohibiting financial institutions from involving in crypto to outlawing domestic use resulting in a full-on ban. China however doesn’t want to stay behind, and has since launched its own government-approved digital currency, the digital Yuan, which was widely used during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Some other countries include Oman, ​​Egypt, Qatar, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia and Bangladesh, who have all banned cryptocurrency for different reasons. An additional 42 other countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, and Bolivia, have implicitly banned crypto by restricting the ability for banks handling digital currencies, or have straight-up prohibited the exchange of any cryptocurrencies.

Author

  • Francis is a journalist and our lead LatAm correspondent, with a BA in Classical Civilization, he has a specialist interest in North and South America.

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