How is Bitcoin, Blockchain technology and other cryptos adopted in Belgium? I started this series in order to get a feel about the progress the community is making to raise current acceptance in everyday life.
To make the grade of adoption comparable, I estimate a Blockchain Adoption Score in terms of these criteria:
- Buying Bitcoin
- Paying with Bitcoin
- Blockchain-economy
- Trends
- Governance
If you have any missing info on this topic, please post it in the comments.
1. Buy and trade Bitcoin in Belgium (score 2.5/10)
Besides the known international online trading platforms, such as Localbitcoins.com and Paxful.com there are also some national exchanging platforms like Bitcoin.be and Belgacoin.com.
ATM situation: On Coinatmradar.com I only found 4 Bitcoin ATMs in Belgium.
ATM density: 0.36 (ATM/ million residents)
2. Pay with Bitcoin (score 3/10)
On coinmap.org I have counted about 100 entries, with 27 alone in Ghent, followed by 11 in Ypres, 9 in Antwerp and only 6 entries in Brussels. Several restaurants and bars accept Bitcoin here, like Mondvol in Gent and Coffeelabs Antwerp as well as few Hotels, Carwash companies and IT shops .
For a more complete list of international and local Bitcoin accepting options check Bitcoin Wiki.
3. Blockchain economy (score 5.5/10)
The Belgium Bitcoin association and Blockchainhub Brussels engage with Bitcoin adoption here, as well as Blockchain Belgium community and the meetup group Blockchain Vlaanderen.
I have found some start ups offering Blockchain Technology in Belgium. Check B2B service provider and Blockchain consultants the Ledger. Fin Tech company Intellect EU has a dependence in Belgium. Another start-up from Belgium is security service Finoryx, and the Bitcoin ATM providers Orillia.
Amongst the established economy, the security provider KBC announced a Blockchain project.
For more Info on Blockchain landscape in Belgium check this article.
Ethereum Enterprise Alliance members from Belgium: (0/116)
R3 members from Belgium: (0/80)
Global Bitcoin Nodes Distribution: is ranked 27th with 37 nodes (less than 1%)
4. Bitcoin Trends Belgium (score 4/10)
Google Trends is a good source to get a glimpse of the popularity of certain terms. I checked how Belgium was performing here in the last 7 days, in comparison with the global community. Unfortunately there seems to be relatively low mainstream interest for a highly developed country:
Bitcoin: 46.
Ethereum: 12.
Steemit: 28.
Blockchain: 14.
5. Known Government and Central Bank activities (score 4/10)
Some good governance signals found for Blockchain enthusiasts in Belgium: At least the city of Antwerp is known to be experimenting with implementing Blockchain applications for governance.
The finance minister of Belgium just announced B-Hive in early 2017, a Fin Tech Hub to strengthen Belgium in the fast growing international Fin Tech market.
In 2015 the Minister of Finance indicated that it does not appear necessary to intervene regarding Bitcoin.
Overall Score Belgium:
1. Buy and Trade Bitcoin: (score 2.5/10)
2. Pay with Bitcoin (score 3/10)
3. Blockchain economy (score 5.5/10)
4. Google Trends Belgium (score 4/10)
5. Governance (score 4/10)
Overall Blockchain Adoption Score Belgium: (3.8/10)
The next country I will check is Germany.