London Becomes The World's Most Crypto-Ready City, What About Jakarta?

JAKARTA - Along with pro-crypto regulations, the general adoption of cryptocurrencies requires supporting infrastructure that can enable the general public to access and open the ecosystem. When considering eight leading indicators around taxes, ATMs, jobs, and events in crypto, London stands out as the world's most crypto-ready city for businesses and start-ups.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's vision to "ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation" is on the right track. This can be seen from the results of research conducted by Recap. An examination of eight key data points determines London to use the highest crypto-readiness to attract businesses and start-ups.

As shown above, leading metropolitan cities like Dubai and New York are in the top three list. However, Hong Kong, which is positioned as the most crypto-ready country in 2022, dropped to seventh place in the study.

Some of the main factors considered in this study include the total number of crypto-specific events, crypto-related jobs, crypto-specific companies, and number of crypto ATMs. Some of the non-crypto considerations include quality of life, research and development spending as a percentage of gross domestic product and capital gains tax rates.

Of these, London is home to the most people working in crypto-related jobs — indicating a higher interest among the general public in the crypto ecosystem. However, other cities overshadow London in several metrics, strengthening the case for cryptocurrency's global adoption.

Looking ahead in a bid to stay ahead of the curve, the Bank of England and Her Majesty's Treasury highlighted the need to launch a central bank digital currency by 2030.

Cointelegraph previously reported that sources claimed that a “digital pound” roadmap would be introduced in mid-February. The UK reportedly saw a 35% drop in cash and coin payments in 2020, indicating a trend towards cashless transactions.

Meanwhile for Southeast Asia, the most crypto-ready city is Singapore which ranks fourth globally. Meanwhile Kuala Lumpur is the second city in Southeast Asia and the capital city of Malaysia is ranked 20th globally. Jakarta itself is still far away. However, Indonesia is ranked 47th as a crypto-friendly country in the world.