Singapore Tops Hong Kong in Blockchain Rankings as U.S. Lags

Singapore leads Hong Kong in blockchain adoption, and both Asian jurisdictions are well ahead of the United States.

That’s according to a recent study of the top 10 cryptocurrency jurisdictions by decentralized exchange (DEX) ApeX Protocol, as reported by Cointelegraph.

The study ranked the destinations in three categories: the number of blockchain patents, blockchain-related jobs and centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in that country relative to its population.

While the U.S. leads by the numbers in each of those categories, it is much larger than tiny Singapore and Hong Kong, which have long battled to be the regional hub for digital assets.

Singapore had 1,600 patents, 2,433 jobs related to blockchain technology and plays host to 81 exchanges, while China’s Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong had 890 patents, 1,163 jobs and 52 exchanges.

In Europe, Estonia, which with just 1.4 million people has a quarter the population of Singapore, came in third with 95 patents, 149 jobs and an impressive 52 exchanges. It was followed by Switzerland, with 920 patents, 440 jobs and 32 exchanges.

All four have a long history of supporting and encouraging crypto companies with friendly regulations.

Crypto’s fortunes rising

The U.S. comes in fifth, with 32,000 patents, 17,154 jobs and 166 exchanges. Aside from its size, the U.S. government has a history ranging from skepticism to outright hostility to crypto.

Most recently, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 sought, with more than a little success, to isolate crypto from the banking industry.

That is about to change with Donald Trump promising to be the “most pro-crypto President,” according to his son, Eric Trump.

The president-elect has announced his intention to appoint crypto supporters to senior positions, including David Sacks as the White House AI and Crypto Czar, and Paul Atkins as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).