An interesting piece of research was recently published with some stats highlighting the strengths of the European tech sector. Two key areas of dominance, according to the search, is in AI and blockchain.
State of European Tech Report - Blockchain section
Key Findings
Blockchain development
- Europe is the largest source of reachable nodes on the Bitcoin network
- The UK, Germany and Russia are the most active blockchain developers on GitHub
- London, Paris and Moscow are the primary centres of European blockchain development
London leads by a long way. Can't say I'm surprised from what I've seen on the London blockchain space. This is despite a lack of real support (from what I can tell) from the UK government and banks. I do believe that some government grants have been awarded to blockchain projects so it isn't a case of completely ignoring the space but it does seem like more could be done.
Banks in the UK are interested in blockchain technology and are active contributers, which is great, but it they are less keen on supporting businesses in this space: i.e. not providing bank accounts for Bitcoin based business. This is my observation but willing to change my mind in the light of new information.
Raising funds
- Europe leads the race to tokenize assets and the ICO fundraising boom.
- There are more ICO projects coming from Europe-based entities and European founders than any other region.
- While entities registered in Europe have raised the most capital via ICOs, founders from North America have marginally out-raised those from Europe. (Note: US has raised the most, but this is closely followed by Switzerland.)
- Switzerland is a leading home to the legal entities behind ICO projects, but not always to their founders
Not surprised here. I think Switzerland would like to maintain its edge in the future of finance. Smart people.
Opinions?
Happy to hear from people on Steemit what they think of the report.