Europe continues to be a hotspot for Bitcoin opportunity. Despite all those “warnings” and misrepresentations by a totally clueless EBA, European countries themselves continue to be  mostly Bitcoin-friendly. Many have established rules the Bitcoin industry can reasonably rely on. Most notably, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands as well as the three Baltic states have developed into “very Bitcoin-friendly” places.

On top, if a European country happens to be less than what you expected in Bitcoin-friendliness, then in comes that general rule of freedom to do business in all of the EEA (European Economic Area, which includes not only the EEC or EU member countries but also the additional EFTA countries plus Switzerland), and an affected Bitcoin business would be able to re-locate to another member country offering “greener pastures”.

Still, this business and innovation-friendly situation should not be taken for granted either: it is something to be cherished and to be defended against possible future deterioration. Particularly during the early Bitcoin years its significance is not to be under-estimated, for it allows Bitcoin “room to breathe” and to develop largely unhampered by needless bureaucrat intervention.

©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.