Josef Werker, spokesperson for the Noah Foundation — the parent organization of the Noah Project

Cryptocurrencies are now more than just buzz in the press: they are an entirely real and operational payment method. The governments of many countries have fully recognized cryptocurrencies and developed a legislative framework. Business is happily taking advantage of the opportunities in the digital currency.

Legalization of cryptocurrencies has been ongoing in various countries around the world since 2013. Many companies have long accepted Bitcoin as payment, including the widely-known website-creating platform WordPress and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. However, these examples aside, cryptocurrencies are not just an exotic adornment for large corporations: they are being used by all sorts of entrepreneurs from many different sectors of the economy.

Online business was the quickest to appreciate cryptocurrencies: you can use Bitcoin to buy VPN channels and various services for notifications, data storage, and data transfer. But cryptocurrencies have long since entered the real sector. Plenty of plastic surgery clinics, art galleries, and even run-of-the-mill cafés are accepting payment in Bitcoin and Litecoin. But if we look at a map showing where crypto payments are accepted, we are in for a surprise. The largest number of companies accepting crypto is concentrated not in the US or Canada, as would be expected, but in Central Europe: Germany, Italy, Greece, Holland, Belgium, UK, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Even traditionally high-tech Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, are falling behind, although there is a surprisingly high number of crypto hubs on the nearby islands: the Philippines, Taiwan, and Fiji. In the Middle East, Iran, Dubai, Turkey, and Egypt have isolated hubs, but Israel is in the lead. Crypto payments are also well-developed in India, in the northern and resort regions.

So, in the vanguard of the new digital economy we have the old European economies and the “minor Asian tigers.” And while the former are already clearly in the lead, the latter are rapidly catching up. Among today’s leaders in crypto payments, I would single out Holland, Belgium, the UK, Switzerland, and Italy.

Holland

Holland has the most places accepting crypto payments. You can use cryptocurrency to pay throughout the country, even off the beaten path, not just in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam, as one would expect. I was surprised to find a city unknown to the average person, in a far-off Dutch province, with almost 90 places where crypto payments were accepted. Crypto is accepted by numerous IT companies, as well as completely normal spa centers and hotels, clothing stores and toy stores, cafés and movie theaters. In the very center of Amsterdam, you could sit and admire the views with a cup of coffee purchased with cryptocurrency.

Belgium

The situation in Belgium is similar to Holland. There are companies accepting crypto payments throughout the country, both in major industrial centers and on the relative outskirts. There may be up to 30 places accepting crypto payments in a single city. However, the southern regions have almost no crypto. Payments can be used in the same places: for business services, in cafés, and in stores.

UK

Here the biggest concentration of places taking crypto payments is in the metro area around London, one of the world’s largest industrial, financial, and logistics hubs. But overall the entire southern part of the country, especially the industrial and transportation-heavy regions (Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham), has fully accepted crypto reality. Just the central neighborhoods of London have over 100 places where crypto payments are accepted, while in Greater London there are several hundred. Here, I would highlight the wider array of industries accepting crypto payments: in addition to traditional food service and online retail, that includes art galleries, vet clinics, industrial companies, and bike rentals.

Switzerland

The central citadel of global banking could not remain untouched by the revolution in payment systems. Besides, the unsurprisingly large number of crypto payment spots in Zurich, where crypto is even accepted in barber shops, you have the ability to pay with Bitcoin even at remote hotels high in the mountains.

Italy

Here crypto payments are more advanced in the traditionally more progressive and industrial northern regions. The B2C sector, including retail, food service, and tourism, including alpine tourist destinations, are happy to accept payment in Bitcoin. B2B isn’t falling behind either: even small private factories in remote areas are accepting crypto.

All the countries listed have mature, well-developed economies, and are at least in the top 20 in nominal GDP per capita, according to the IMF. That makes it all the more interesting to watch the trend toward rapid development in the digital economy and appearance of crypto hubs in countries far from the top of the list of successful economies. Those are the previously mentioned “minor Asian tigers”. And while the development of crypto payments in South Korea can be explained by the rapid expansion of foreign trade, and in Singapore by the presence of a global financial hub, the Philippines are surprising in this regard. Although the government of the Philippines is rather wary of cryptocurrencies and does not consider them an official method of payment, it pays close attention to this sector and understands the technologies’ potential. In particular, it has licensed 10 largest blockchain and crypto ventures to legally operate within a special economic zone, granting them the right to engage in mining, provide exchange services, and conduct ICOs. This country’s potential was noticed long ago by Japanese businessmen, who saw an economy growing at a good clip, a large proportion of younger people, and high IT penetration levels. Those were the exact reasons that it provided fertile ground for developing fintech projects.

We, too, are following the general Japanese trend: we want to get out ahead of the Europeans and build an entire neighborhood in the Philippines. It will be a fintech hub located in the new Horizon Manila district in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. We named it NOAH CITY. We have issued special tokens for internal circulation, NOAH COIN, and are creating a convenient virtual wallet for them. In the coming years, our neighborhood will start to come to life: it will see its first visitors, tenants, and businesses. All companies will accept NOAH COIN, including B2C, i.e. cafés, stores, and hotels. NOAH COIN holders will also be offered loyalty programs, cash back, and other nice bonuses, so that using our tokens will have more benefits. By the way, NOAH PROJECT is already working on a partnership with the resort hotel Dakak Beach Resort in the Philippines, where holders of our tokens will have the additional option to take a vacation using their crypto assets. Dakak Resort will locate the exclusive Noah Resort, where the coin will be accepted.

We expect our NOAH CITY to become a heaven for crypto enthusiasts from around the world. Along the way, the entire world will see that the transition to a digital economy is possible. I’m sure that our experiment will be a turning point, not just for the Philippines and Japan, but for the whole world: through crypto, the global economy will finally enter the digital space, and much faster than we think.