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Bigger is not always better. Sometimes, good things come in small packages. Despite the majority of cryptocurrency news revolving around large countries like the US and China, there are quite a few smaller countries that are surprisingly progressive when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrency.
The problem with bigger countries is that they often resort to strict regulations that suffocate the development of budding blockchain projects. This is of course often implemented as a preventative measure to avoid criminal activity but, unfortunately, it also affects the honest players in the game. Smaller countries, on the other hand, have the advantage of being more flexible, and many of them use that advantage. Here, we will have a look at some of them — and they are not the ones you might have expected. From Georgia to Liechtenstein, lack of regulation and the encouragement of education within the crypto-sphere is propelling various exciting blockchain initiatives.
Malta
Malta is a haven for blockchain companies because of the lax regulations. The cryptocurrency exchange Binance recently announced that it would relocate from Hong Kong to Malta for this very reason. The Maltese government has also recently formed the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA), which aims to promote the use of digital ledger technology for much more than simply the transfer of money.
Georgia
Not the state of Georgia, but the Eastern European country, which at a population of 4 million is only half the size of the US state. A Cambridge University study from last year ranked the country as number two when it comes to cryptocurrency mining. Why? Because Georgia has very few regulations and harnesses hydropower to generate its electricity. Here, the average cryptocurrency miner can spend $80 on electricity per month, and generate $800 worth of cryptocurrency tokens. Not a bad deal!
Liechtenstein
The small country of Liechtenstein has more businesses than citizens. One of the reasons for this is that is is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), but not the European Union (EU). This makes it particularly attractive to cryptocurrency businesses, as it is not subject to the many EU regulations. As an added bonus, a business can be set up without a bank account or fiat money. All other fees can be paid for with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Thailand
Thailand is one of the many Asian countries that are at the forefront of blockchain technology. The country’s postal service announced last year that it would begin incorporating blockchain technology into its deliveries. By using smart contracts, the postal service can ensure that deliveries containing valuable goods only are handed over to the appropriate person.
Cyprus
Whilst Cyprus is known for neither mining nor lax regulations, it is a power-house when it comes to education on cryptocurrency. The Cypriot University of Nicosia pioneered school programs in cryptocurrencies, which other countries have since emulated. The university was also the recipient of funding from Ripple, who recently invested $50 million in educational cryptocurrency programs around the world.
Do you know of any smaller countries that have made great leaps in terms of blockchain technology? Let us know in the comments!
Cryptocurrency mining can be profitable, depending on which token you are mining where you are located, and how much the electricity costs. Regardless of whether or not it is profitable, it is a known fact that cryptocurrency mining uses up a lot of energy. So much so, in fact, that the small country of Iceland uses more energy for cryptocurrency mining than it does to power the houses people live in.
This energy usage is only set to increase, as the mathematical problems the mining rigs need to solve become increasingly more complex as more tokens are being mined. The question then is what will be done to solve the problem of rising energy costs for cryptocurrency mining? And what impact will it have on the environment, seeing as much of the energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels?
Putting the problem in perspective
How much energy is being used exactly? The Bitcoin network, which is the largest cryptocurrency network in existence, uses up 71 TWh every year. The next biggest network is the Ethereum network, which uses up to 20.5 TWh every year. To put it into context, the two networks use up as much energy as the entire United Arab Emirates. Alex de Vries, who is an economist, has predicted that the mining of cryptocurrency tokens will use up 0.5% of all of the world’s energy this year.
Renewable energy vs. fossil fuels
The massive energy consumption required to mine for cryptocurrencies would not be a problem if the energy came from renewable sources like solar power and geothermal energy. The latter kind of renewable energy is exactly what Iceland uses, which means that their cryptocurrency mining is not a huge environmental issue. However, not all countries are as big on renewable energy as Iceland is — far from it.
Take China, for example, which has enormous coal reserves. 70% of the energy consumed by the Chinese come from fossil fuel energy sources. If Chinese citizens were the only ones who used Chinese energy, this would not pose a huge problem either. Especially since the Chinese government has now outlawed the mining of cryptocurrency, as they are subsidizing the energy. However, China exports much of their energy to the rest of the world, and 60% of the networks’ energy consumption comes from China’s coal-driven power stations.
The solutions are many
A string of projects with a focus on the environment has now begun to tackle this issue. William Shatner and Solar Alliance are working together to build solar energy farms that can be rented out to cryptocurrency miners.
Foodtrax is an app using blockchain technology to let consumers track the supply chain of their groceries. Energy Blockchain Labs are addressing the carbon trading markets in China, which will help create more transparency. EnergiToken uses a peer-to-peer model to help consumers reduce their energy consumption. Plastic Bank is a project that uses the blockchain model to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean. It would seem that, in spite of the huge energy consumption required by cryptocurrency mining, the blockchain will be the solution to environmental issues.
After only five months, Facebook has begun to backtrack on its cryptocurrency advertisement ban which was put into effect back in January. The move by Facebook was quickly followed by similar bans imposed by Google and Twitter on their respective platforms. Now, however. it would seem that the social media giant is slowly but surely opening the doors back up to certain cryptocurrency advertisers.
The ban was never easy to enforce
Facebook had trouble enforcing the ban for quite a while after it was initially put in place. Mere days after the ban, cryptocurrency advertisements were still being seen on the social network. The method of enforcement was perhaps slightly naive on Facebook’s part. The idea was to put a blanket ban on ads making any mentions of terms like ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘ICOs’, ‘initial coin offerings’, and ‘blockchain’.
Clever crypto-enthusiasts simply reworded their ads in order to bypass the filter put in place. All they had to do was use the term ‘c-currencies’ and ‘c-trading’ instead of ‘cryptocurrencies’ and ‘crypto-trading’. As such, Facebook had to widen the scope of words their filters would catch, and thus began a long back-and-forth between the platform and the advertisers.
The reversal of the ban is only partial
One of the main reasons for the ban in the first place was the fact that so many ICOs turned out to be scams. For this reason, the ban imposed on advertisers still holds for ICOs and binary options. When it comes to cryptocurrencies themselves, and other related products and services, the ban has effectively been lifted. A spokesperson for Facebook has however mentioned that all advertisers will have to go through a vetting process before they’re allowed to place an ad.
This vetting process involves advertisers having to submit an application along with their ad. Along with the application, the advertisers need to let Facebook know of any licenses they hold, if they have a presence on public stock exchanges, as well as provide details of their official business information. These restrictions will greatly reduce the number of advertisers who are eligible to place an ad on Facebook.
Facebook calls on the community to help out
The ban was initially put in place to protect the Facebook community from fraudulent activity. This activity can still be seen occasionally, with the odd ‘Bitc0in’ ad having passed through the filter. Some scammers have even claimed that cryptocurrencies are now an official currency in Sweden, in order to lend legitimacy to their ad.
Because Facebook’s filter will never be able to catch 100% of scammers, the spokesperson has called on the wider Facebook community to help police the space and report any dodgy advertisements they come across.
Meanwhile, Facebook is working on their own cryptocurrency. If and when this is launched, the ban might be completely reversed and the restrictions lifted. It could, however, also go in the completely opposite direction. Why would Facebook not ban all other cryptocurrencies than their own? The temptation to eliminate competition in this way would be irresistible to most companies.
Those of us who have been following the progress of blockchain technology since the launch of Bitcoin back in 2009 have spent a lot of time discussing the money side of things. But blockchain technology is so much more than simply a gateway to a new form of currency.
The technology that underpins cryptocurrency is much more potent than that. It has the potential to transform several aspects of our everyday lives. Fortunately, people in the know are working relentlessly on bringing about the realisation of blockchain technology’s full potential. Verification is a huge part of our society, as it helps ensure that trust is not only built, but also maintained. with this in mind, let’s have a look at some of the kinds of verification the blockchain can help us improve.
From coffee supply chains to land ownership
The prosperity of a country relies heavily on its ability to trade with other countries by exporting goods and services. Ethiopia is a country that relies on its export of coffee beans. Cardano is a blockchain platform that is being developed to help Ethiopia track the comings and going of their valued export. Input Output HK is the company behind Cardano, and they have ambitions that stretch much further than the tracking of coffee beans. Their vision includes the tracking of land ownership on the African continent.
From beef to university diplomas
Similar to Ethiopia, Cambodia and Vietnam are relying on their individual exports to prosper. In this case, the goods are not coffee, but beef. Here, Cardano is also being used to track the progress of the beef supply chain. The company applying Cardano in Cambodia and Vietnam is another blockchain startup called Emerge Hong Kong. Although they are not seeking to use the Cardano platform for tracking land ownership in Asia, they do have other uses for it in mind. Their plans include using the platform to issue digital university certificates. In a world of fake news and scam artists, this is a much welcomed addition to the verification of official documents such as university diplomas.
How does it all work?
Trading with cryptocurrency involves the recording of transactions on the blockchain. The decentralised nature of these transactions is what makes them so safe compared to traditional forms of transactions. Because the records are not kept in one particular place at any given time, but rather spread across many devices at all times, they are never lost. Furthermore, once a transaction is recorded, it cannot be deleted or modified in any way. Finally, because the records are kept on a collective network, there are much lower costs associated with maintaining the database. This is what is so attractive about the blockchain model, particularly for developing countries, and which is why it is applicable to supply chains.
What does the future look like?
Input Output HK are working closely together with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Ethiopia, which indicates that the governments can see the potential in blockchain technology. Input Output HK have also started offering free classes to aspiring developers, so they can contribute to the project with their talents. Back in Cambodia, the government is also interested in the ability of Cardano to prevent the smuggling of beef to China, which has banned the import of Japanese beef.