Cryptic Currencies and Comedy
A letter to you from a small Swiss town called Zug also known Crypto Valley….
Its been a year since my last visit to Switzerland when I wrote about Zurich’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In the interim its international reputation as a crypto nation has gathered pace. In January 2017, the Crypto Valley Association, a non-for-profit was founded in Zug to build the world’s leading blockchain and crypto technologies ecosystem. [For those that have no clue what any of that means, read on]
There are now over 350 blockchain companies in Switzerland recently mapped in this Crypto Valley directory. Xapo being a notable and Transatlantic example. In a ‘why Switzerland’ article, it cited reasons including privacy, neutrality and decentralised direct democracy to provide the greatest level of protection for customer bitcoins. With its compelling strapline “Interested in getting started with Bitcoin? Make a smooth transition from fiat to digital money!” and an all-star US cast of advisors — Xapo’s ascent is the promise of what Crypto Valley can produce.
At the Crypto Valley Labs Happy Hour, I met a few earlier stage companies. Many started by former hedge fund types. As happy hours go, it was quite intense. Between ICOs, ledgers and HODL, I thought having a crypto branded beer might accelerate my ability to understand the acronyms. That didn’t go as planned.
So I turned to this American fellow on CNBC who gave a more animated, comical view of crypto slang. While we’re on the topic of crypto comedy, during my final few months living in New York, I had met a woman named Margaux Avedisian in the West Village. She explained to me that she was a bitcoin comedian and that the industry was literally bat sh** crazy. Wall Street Journal did a feature on her last year, look her up if you want to hear the alternative view.
For the uninitiated into this world and those who want a more academic overview, the smart folks at Cambridge University wrote The Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study. It gives further insights into all the components of the cryptocurrency industry; exchanges, payments, wallets and mining.
Along with Switzerland and the US are also the Asian Tigers of Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong vying for pole position as Crypto nations. So what does it take to win in the long run? Well for one, the infrastructure to attract leading talent and companies to the crypto hubs which leads us back to immigration.
Talking to the Crypto Valley Labs founders, they are working closely with the Swiss Government to attract the best international crypto entrepreneurs. Credibility and legitimacy from going through Swiss accelerators and incubators and being minted from new rounds of funding helps the immigration process. But it ain’t easy. If Switzerland were a nightclub, it would have 26 bouncers from across its 26 cantons guarding the doors. It could be the cryptonite that other nations exploit.
The hurdles may be worth it however for connections available to the leading Swiss financial institutions and universities. Before the trek to Crypto Valley, I visited ETH Zurich’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab. ETH is one of the world’s leading technical universities. Tomas Brenner the head of the entrepreneurship lab explained its origins from its founding in 2012. For students who want an entrepreneurial career to commercialise their scientific research, IE lab provides space, mentoring, training and access to the Swiss ecosystem.
One good example of the quality of student research, a team called Swissloop from ETH was amongst the top 20 selected in Elon Musk’s Hyperloop competition. Students are asked to design pods for the ultra speed Maglav Train which will be tested at SpaceX in California this Summer. The video included below on what the students produced is pretty incredible.
A few days following the Swiss adventures, I saw the premier of the Tina Turner musical in London (highly recommend). Tina Turner gave up her US passport for a Swiss passport. Here is what she had to say about life in Switzerland. Turns out, love had a lot to do with it.
Sincerely yours,
Kajal Sanghrajka
t: @kajalnyclon | i: @transatlanticpost | w: transatlanticpost.com
WHO WILL BE THE WORLD’S FIRST CRYPTO NATION?
The writer defines a crypto nation as “one where cryptocurrencies are embraced, clearly and fairly regulated, taxed, powering multiple level of their economies, capital formations, and workforce”. It also examines what it takes to “go crypto” citing the shortage of talent for the industry as a major roadblock. Depending on who you talk to, the top 5 countries in the race can vary but the US and Switzerland are common to many lists. FORBES »
LONDON AND NYC TOP THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CENTER INDEX 2018
Dubbed as the most authoritative comparison in the competitiveness of the world’s leading financial centres, the GFC Index was published last week. London and New York topped the rankings with San Francisco and Boston moving into the top ten replacing Beijing and Zurich. Areas of competitiveness include flexibility of the labour market, political stability, rule of law, depth and breadth of industry clusters and city brand and appeal. We shall see what happens post Brexit….. INVESTMENT INTERNATIONAL »
FOUR STORIES OF RELOCATION FROM IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS
Earlier this month, I had a conversation with Karan Mehta at Octopus Ventures in New York about my experience moving to the US and the long process to secure an entrepreneur visa. Aside from the business aspect, there is an emotional cost from moving and constant travel that is often not talked about. From losing touch with friends at home to being mentally ready for the visa battle. This article highlights the experience of several founders including Stripe and Onfido on heading Stateside. OCTOPUS VENTURES»
20 STUDENT TEAMS SELECTED FOR 2018 HYPERLOOP COMPETITION
Elon Musk’s Hyerloop Pod Competition II will take place at SpaceX in California this summer. The goal is to design a transport pod that can achieve the highest speed possible inside a vacuum tube — and then successfully decelerate. The winning pod last year by the Technical University at Munich reached a speed of 323 km/h. Only 20 finalists have been selected and outside of the US, Germany and Switzerland have two student teams each competing from their technical universities. HYPERLOOP COMPETITION RECAP »
10 FEMALE FOUNDERS SCALING UP IN 2018
Back in London this month, I attended a gathering with some of London’s rising female entrepreneurs listed by Sarah Wood of Unruly as 10 Female Founders Rocking it in 2018 in a recent LinkedIn article. Some have already taken on the US market successfully others are scaling up their businesses this year: — Emily Forbes at Seenit, Bethany Koby at Tech will Save Us, Kate Tancred at The Smalls , Amy Williams at The Good Loop, Elena Corchero, Ellenor McIntosh at Twipes, Adela Hussein at Style Lyricaland Emma Sinclair at Enterprise Jungle who was also the fabulous host. Check out the article below. LINKEDIN »
ABOUT THE TRANSATLANTIC POST A monthly editorial at the confluence of Transatlantic entrepreneurship, start-up policy and city ecosystems. With occasional British satire. Written and edited by Kajal Sanghrajka, Churchill Fellow 2017–18 on immigrant entrepreneurship and Founder of Growth Hub. For previous editions see the archive. SUBSCRIBE »
