Some countries have completely abandoned the ICO and imposed a ban on the cryptocurrency, among them Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia, Bangladesh and Nepal. Strict restrictions apply in China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Iceland. So, which countries are most suitable to launch an ICO from?
The birthplace of Ethereum, Switzerland, has all the qualities to attract business related to the Blockchain and cryptocurrency. According to a study by Funderbeam, about 13% of all ICOs are conducted in Switzerland - this is the second country after the US, the leader in the ICO market with a share of 38%. In Europe, Switzerland leads with a 58% stake ($370 million was attracted for 13 campaigns), followed by the UK ($71 million for eight ICOs).
Despite the fact that there is no ICO regulation in Switzerland, the FINMA Swiss regulator attentively evaluates the functionality of tokens issued on ICO and assigns tokens to one of three categories: a payment instrument, a token of assets, or an asset. FINMA has its own guide to ICOs, which the regulator published in September 2017, shortly after the activity of a fabricated project that sold non-existent E-Coin tokens for $4.2 million to hundreds of users was stopped.
Among other favourable jurisdictions are Singapore, Hong Kong, Estonia, Great Britain and Gibraltar. These countries are actively developing the business environment for cryptocurrency projects.
Despite being a neighbour to China, where cryptocurrency has been banned, there is a well-developed crypto community in Hong Kong; there are regular events devoted to Blockchain technology. Hong Kong is one of the top 10 countries to launch an ICO. Hong Kong has become a kind of hub for ICOs, especially after the Chinese crypto ban.
Among them, AB-CHAIN, an advertising network on the Ethereum blockchain, successfully completed the ICO in March this year, having collected more than $ 2.5 million.
Officials from AB-CHAIN said,
“Hong Kong is a convenient jurisdiction. First, it is the leading economy in Asia, the most liberal economy in the world according to the Wall Street Journal, which has been held by many for already a decade. Secondly, for ICO this is a profitable region: many investors come from Asia, and it is in this case that our development director is constantly in Hong Kong… “
