Amsterdam Aims to Become Bitcoin Capital of the World

Several countries have tried to become the ‘Bitcoin Capital of the World’ during the last year, and the competition only seems to be growing. The Isle of Man made the attempt, UK banks pulled the rug out from under their feet, and Australia is certainly one of the world’s leading Bitcoin countries.
Holland, and in particular Amsterdam, might just grab the title. The team behind the Dutch startup BitStraat put their heads together with BitPay to put 100 dedicated Bitcoin payment terminals in brick and mortar stores in the city. The BitStraat project, founded by Amsterdam residents Max Barendregt and Kasper Keunen, seeks to serve as a middleman between Bitcoin merchants and BitPay, one of the largest Bitcoin payment processing companies in the world.
Amsterdam seems to be a perfect place for a project of this type, according to Barendregt:
“It only makes sense to establish Amsterdam as the global bitcoin capital. The Dutch capital has a history and a name for being technologically ambitious, as well as open minded and forward thinking, in general. A currency for the people [that is] free from centralized control would be a natural fit. We aim to enable visitors to our city to pay for all of their expenses in bitcoin, including their stay in a hostel, their trips to museums and their dinner at local restaurants.’
The project began in May of 2014 when the founders met with the Bitcoin Foundation at Bitcoin2014 in Amsterdam. The Bitcoin Foundation had opened its European base in April, and Moe Levin, BitPay’s director of European business development, was impressed by the Amsterdam initiative:

This post was published at Coin Telegraph on 2014-11-24.