Henley & Partners’ 2023 Crypto Wealth Report covers two broad areas of DeFi developments: global crypto wealth statistics and the world’s most-active crypto hubs.
The former was previously covered here on Crypto Presale, with it being revealed that 6 Bitcoin billionaires live among us, as well as over 88,200 crypto millionaires.
Now it’s time to explore the report’s second section, ‘global crypto hubs’- which arguably, is a more practical topic of discourse for anyone interested in crypto and living a life of DeFi.
Who is Behind the Crypto Wealth Report
Before we dive into the report’s list of the world’s leading crypto hubs, let’s first understand the entities behind the study.
The Crypto Wealth Report is a product of Henley & Partners, alongside global wealth intelligence company New World Wealth.
Here, the former is a London-based investment migration consultancy which basically operates as a service for making the lives of the uber rich even easier. This is done through maximising their wealth via tax-centric passport services and investment consultancy, as well as services such as aiding in their children getting accepted into the world’s top universities.
To get an even better look into the sheer eliteness of the company, its website’s ‘About’ page includes the following passage:
“We work towards a world where a sensible flow of people and capital between countries — for trade, tourism, labor, and investment — contributes to global peace and prosperity”.
For New World Wealth, this company is said to ‘track the movements and spending habits of over 150,000 high-net-worth individuals in its in-house database, with a special focus on individuals with over USD 10 million in investable assets’.
However, instead of actually being able to track the spending of each and every individual in its database, the company uses its in-house wealth distribution models and supplementary public information to determine wealth statistics…
And this is exactly what it did to cultivate The Crypto Wealth Report - meaning the following insights are estimates, as opposed to hard facts and figures.
The Henley & Partners ‘Crypto Adoption Index’
The following list of the world’s top crypto hubs is compiled using Henley & Partners’ ‘Crypto Adoption Index’.
Here, the crypto-centric composite statistic (i.e. index) utilises a mass amount of crypto data points in order to render the truest estimates when it comes to crypto adoption across the globe.
More practically, it focuses on six key parameters: public adoption, infrastructure adoption, innovation and technology, regulatory environment, economic factors, and tax-friendliness.
To generate a succinct comparison between regions, each country is given a score out of ten for each respective metric - therefore meaning the maximum score of 60 is on offer.
The Top 10 Global Crypto Hubs
In total, the report reveals 22 of the world’s crypto-friendliest hubs, with our list to explore the top 10.
10. Malaysia
Score: 37.7/60
Just making the cut is Malaysia.
Per the report, the South East Asian country is currently performing well when it comes to ‘innovation and technology’ and ‘tax-friendliness’ metrics, with its government said to be a proficient cooperator with banks, businesses, and the public for ‘optimal development of the national crypto sector’.
As you’ll later learn, the neighbouring city-state of Singapore plays a large role in Malaysia’s bullish crypto stance, as its crypto taxes are said to be ‘beneficial to individuals and investors alike, with no capital gains taxes’.
9. Malta
Score: 38.9/60
Malta’s blockchain bubble began back in 2018, when its government launched new blockchain-friendly regulations, as well as the ‘Malta Digital Innovations Authority’ (MIDA).
Such bullish efforts are still manifesting today, as the country is doing well when it comes to ‘innovation and technology’ and ‘tax-friendliness’ - however it’s said to be slacking when it comes to ‘public adoption’.
Additionally, the report suggests that its ‘infrastructure adoption’ score of 5.4 hosts a lot of potential.
8. Canada
Score: 40.4/60
Per the Crypto Wealth Report, Canada thrives when it comes to ‘infrastructure adoption’ that’s designed for crypto exchanges, as well as its crypto-bullish ‘economic factors’.
That being said, the report also states that the country’s crypto policies remain on the cautious side of things - which is perhaps no surprise given its close ties with the crypto-clampdown nation of the USA.
7. The UK
Score: 42.7/60
From around 1980 to 2010, Henley & Partners dubbed the UK as a top migration hub for international millionaires. However, in wake of the Brexit referendum in 2016, the country lost ‘approximately 12,500 high-net-worth individuals’ (in net terms), and is expected to lose a further 3,200 this year.
That being said, the region poses a wealth of crypto-friendly measures that may see the tables turn in years to come. Most notably, this includes bullish infrastructures for ‘innovation and technology,’ which the report scores it 10/10 in.
Additionally, its recent Financial Services and Markets Bill now provides the country with more crypto regulatory clarity, whilst its Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stated that he’d like to turn the UK into a world-leading crypto-hub (however on the flip side, he’s also made his bullish stance on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBCDs) very public).
6. Australia
Score: 43.1/60
Australia has had its fair share of crypto regulatory controversies in recent times, which is why its high rank may come as a surprise.
Nonetheless, the report scores the land down under as a world leader in ‘infrastructure adoption’ and ‘innovation and technology,’ however a low-performer when it comes to ‘tax-friendliness’.
5. The USA
Score: 44.3/60
Similarly, with recent crypto headlines being dominated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its allegations of crypto projects and exchanges selling tokens as ‘unregistered securities,’ the USA’s high ranking may also come as surprise (especially given that it scored 7.7 when it comes to ‘regulatory environment’).
That being said, the country is an unequivocal leader when it comes to homing today’s largest crypto firms/entities, which is exemplary of its 9.6 score in ‘infrastructure adoption’.
Additionally, its ‘public adoption’ score of 6.3 is relatively high, which makes sense given that 13.7% of its population owned crypto in 2022 (per Triple A).
However with the inescapable onslaught from the SEC, we could perhaps expect the country’s respective ‘regulatory environment’ score to decline in the future, which could further cause a domino effect onto other metrics (therefore kicking it down the rankings).
4. Hong Kong
Score: 45.6/60
In fourth place comes Hong Kong, which is in drastic contrast in relation to its mainland Chinese counterpart (where crypto is essentially banned).
The ever-interesting geopolitical region boasts many efforts when it comes to becoming a leading crypto hub, such as its June-implemented ‘task force’ for developing ‘sustainable and responsible’ Web3 innovations.
Additionally, Hong Kong has recently been awarded licences for crypto exchanges, with the report citing its high ‘innovation and technology,’ ‘economic factors,’ and ‘tax friendliness’ scores as causes for its crypto bullishness.
3.The United Arab Emirate (UAE)
Score: 45.7/60
The bronze medal goes to the UAE, which scores an impressive 10/10 when it comes to ‘tax-friendliness’ due to its lucrative zero tax policies on crypto revenues/incomes.
With its flagship city of Dubai being a pivotal contributor, the region’s flourishing economy offers fantastic ‘economic factors’ for DeFi endeavours, as well as ample grounds for crypto ‘innovation and technology’.
In illustrating its unilateral pro-crypto stance, Dubai also hosts crypto and Web3 events on an almost-daily basis (in the months where the weather is bearable that is).
2. Switzerland
Score: 46.9/60
Whilst performing relatively poorly when it comes to public adoption (3.9/10), the financial haven of Switzerland makes up for this with 8+ scores across all other metrics.
Here, the report acknowledges its robust legal frameworks, well-established crypto infrastructures, and highly-touted privacy/security reputation as causes for its proficient DeFi landscape.
In turn, the country hosts the likes of Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Tezos (XTZ), which are all registered in a small town called Zug - a.k.a. ‘the crypto valley’.
1. Singapore
Score: 50.2/60
In partly-contributing to Malaysia’s top 10 ranking, the report places Singapore as the world’s leading crypto hub.
Per its findings, the region’s main regulatory body the ‘Monetary Authority of Singapore’ (MAS) does a proficient job in closely cooperating alongside banks, businesses, and the public, in order to optimise the development, adoption, and innovation of crypto within the region.
In turn - and similar to that of the UAE - its ridiculously-loose crypto tax policies (of ‘zero capital gains taxes’) led to the report giving it full marks in terms of ‘tax-friendliness’.
With all areas of regulation geared towards crypto empowerment, 43% of Singaporeans were said to own crypto in 2021 - a figure that’s most-certainly increased since then.
Final Thoughts
Although such list boasts some questionable results - such as the omissions of cities such as Berlin and Lisbon (who, in their own rights, are also deemed crypto havens), as well as the surprisingly high-ranking of the USA - it does a productive job in outlining which regions are consciously investing in endeavours related to crypto innovations and adoption.
Consequently, the report can most-certainly be used as a valuable resource for those planning for a life of DeFi, as well as crypto innovators looking for a new home for their businesses.
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This article is intended for educational purposes and is not financial advice.
