Sweden in Turning As the New Home to Bitcoin Miners
Sweden, a country famous for its iron mines, has taken mining activity to a whole new world of blockchain technology and virtual digital currencies. A researcher at Stockholm School of Economics, Claire Ingram Bogusz said that Sweden is a rapidly growing market for Bitcoin enthusiasts owing to friendly regulatory procedures and frameworks. As a result, Sweden has turned a new home for many of the fintech startups and is slowly turning into a hot-bed for cryptocurrency mining activities.
Bogusz says “Sweden is among the leaders in the global bitcoin market. There’s a very high-level of knowledge about it here, and a high-level of digital competence in the Fintech space. We may not be the size of Hong Kong or London, but it’s hard to find that level of digital competence in other financial centers.”
Bitcoin’s unprecedented and historic rise over the past year has forced many investors, financial institutions and government bodies to seriously consider it as a potential alternative to traditional fiat currency.
Sweden Sets the Stage for the Next Big Cryptocurrency Mining Hub. Bogusz says that since the beginning of 2016, there has been an exponential increase in many of the Swedish fintech startups coming and participating in the country’s local Bitcoin market. With several encouraging startup accelerator programs and practical policies in place, Sweden is the second largest fintech hub in Europe and is also establishing itself as the next big cryptocurrency mining hub. In addition, Sweden’s cold climate offers mining the advantage of operating huge mining pools that tend to overheat with intensive mining operations.
Bogusz also explained that the entire country is currently swept by the bitcoin and blockchain activities. She also talked about how the blockchain technology has a wide area of application right from creating a trustable cryptocurrency base to managing supply chain issues across businesses. Bogusz said that “The more efficient the blockchain becomes, the bigger the possibility that the technology is picked up all over the world” and continued saying that Sweden is all set for this next big transformational change.
Also, a huge number of bitcoin miners and corporations are relocating to Sweden owing to the availability of surplus low-cost hydro electric power and cheap electricity. Bogusz says that Boden, in the far north of the country has emerged as the preferred destination for blockchain and crypto mining companies who have established their data centers there.
China who currently dominates the global Bitcoin mining activities has expressed continued uncertainty and skepticism over the future of cryptocurrencies in the country. As a result, miners are relocating to different nations that offer lucrative options for carrying out low-cost mining activities. Moreover, there has been a huge drop in the liquidity of Bitcoin trading in China after the Chinese government’s crackdown and ban imposed on ICOs and all the crypto exchanges operating within the country.