Would a BitCoin Hub Provide the Digital Currency with an Advantage?

BitCoin is all about its global reach and international usability, which is not so surprising. As a P2P network, it utilizes the hashing power coming from every corner of the world, including some of the most isolated places.

When it was created, it was designed for the purpose of providing people a digital currency that is not going to be hampered by any national legislature or nation-based currencies. Instead, the idea of this cryptocurrency was to make a money transfer system that will be able to cross these borders freely and without huge transaction fees.

In many ways, it stayed true to this original vision but the notion of being completely disconnected from the physical location, in the sense that it does not matter where the user are might actually stifle its development. Here, some flexibility might be an advantage

Instead being ex-territorial, the network could find great partners in the form of physical locations which could help with its expansion. In other words, finding places where BitCoin might be used in more ways than one could be exceedingly beneficial for the network. These special partnerships could be created with individual cities and even regions, all for the betterment of the network and larger numbers of its adopters. Here are the reasons why this idea is important.

A Historical Pattern

Since the beginning of history, some places on the globe were more successful in attaining and promoting different technologies. The same process was crucial for the development of any trade-related concept, including the most basic ones like currency itself. Of course, because of the dynamics of the modern world, it could be relatively easy to dismiss this notion as something obsolete.

However, digital technology of any kind is, at the end of the day, also a form of commodity. This means that it demands a changing of hands and through that process a creation of a profit. To do this, a physical place is always an advantage. The history of the digital domain proves the same. Locations like the Silicon Valley did not form because a single entity decided to create such a community. They came about spontaneously, thanks to the people and the businesses that desired to work close to one another. Sometimes, these businesses compete, other times they collaborated.

But, no matter what, they still launched a trillion dollar industry and revolutionized the way a certain domain of business is perceived. Today, BitCoin as well could greatly profit from an own convergence place like this.

BitCoin Development and BTC Use

This hypothetical BitCoin valley would serve a dual purpose. First of all, a place like this would need to be as BTC friendly as possible. This notion would include retail and service businesses which all support the digital currency as a method of payment. The same should be at least tried out with things like public transportation, parking and other regular systems of payment for the general public. But, at the same time, the less popular domains of activity should be BTC friendly as well.

This could include a charity system that operates using BTC donations, regular sport and E-Sport events and competition where prizes are paid out in the cryptocurrency and other similar mechanisms. This way, the entire community could be completely immersed in the BitCoin network, even if they are not individually connected to any form of mining or development. Here, individuals would slowly become aware of the BTC advantages, like using BitCoin for online betting and much more.

The second purpose would be a mirror image of the Silicon Valley model of an IT development community. Unlike the broader one, this community would focus their efforts on producing new tools and services for the BitCoin users. Here, one of the most important things is that companies, no matter how big or small they are, do not punish their employees with hard-hitting NDA contracts. This way, they will allow for an easy transition of minds between the companies, spurring on growth.

The same principle is one of the foundations of a successful US tech scene, especially when compared with the EU scene, which made a lot less headway in the same domain, in spite of a relatively similar size and potential. In the EU countries, many companies went ahead with strong NDA forms and thus crippled the potential for growth. Looking at the scene today, it has to be noticed that most of the tech giants come from the US or Asia while Europe is left trailing behind.

Any future BitCoin hub would do well to learn from the mistakes that were made by others and try to go for an organic model of growth in the tech domain. For better or worse, there is no doubt that BTC belongs in this category.

The Actually Location

Aside from setting the basic concept for the BitCoin hub, the issue remains: where should this place actually be on the world map? Here, even though the playing field seems as large as the planet, the real choice is not that big because of several factors.

Frist of all, the place needs to be a growing and expanding location, hungry for more investment and willing to take bigger risks. Because of this, locations like New York or London should not be considered, because none of them would be willing to change their mammoth rules in any way to accommodate the BitCoin.

Secondly, the important factor is that the country of choice needs to be flexible about its rules regulating financial domain of the digital currencies. No hub could be started with a fear of a possible legal clampdown, so countries like Russia and most of the EU zone do not seem like great alternatives.
Some might think that the price of energy and its availability should also be a factor, but for a user and developer community, it is not that big of a deal. There is no need to drag a mining element into the equation, mainly because of the fact that miners will always gravitate towards their internal calculation of risks and benefits.

Currently, mainland China appears to be the most desirable location for mining BTC; competing with it seems unnecessary in every way. This means that abundant and cheap energy is a definitely a plus, but by no means a necessity for any potential BitCoin hub location.

Finally, the place in question should already be a hub of some sorts, preferably in the financial sense, with strong IT infrastructure and travel interconnectivity. When all of this is considered, the remaining alternatives are pretty clear.

This means that super-cities of Asia like Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong would be the ideal candidates. Thanks to their fluid and accommodating legal systems, a knack for developing financial industries and a willingness to risk when the payoff could be substantial, any one of these places would do great as the host city for a potential BitCoin community.

Hopefully, the same idea will be noticed by a number of relevant players in the BitCoin sphere and its development begins as soon as possible before some other blockchain solution does the same.