Which state in the United States is the most friendly to BTC holders?

Authors: David Waugh, Dave Birnbaum

Compiler: Luffy, Foresight News

Individual voting is often seen as a civic duty, but its impact on election outcomes is statistically negligible. Research shows that there is very little difference between Republican and Democratic state governments in the United States in various policies.

Politicians often rally their supporters by declaring that each election is “the most important of our lives.” However, despite the increase in voter turnout, change remains elusive. The government is growing, but the public’s trust and satisfaction with government institutions continues to decline. Seventy percent of Americans don’t fully trust the president, and 74 percent believe the economy is deteriorating.

Vote with your money

In addition to voting in elections, there are other ways in which individuals can influence change. For example, consumers use money to “vote” for goods and services they like, which signals to producers such as entrepreneurs and companies what the market wants them to produce.

A notorious example is the Coca-Cola Company’s launch of “New Coke” in 1985. Angry consumers rejected the new flavor. Some have even launched campaigns urging the company to return the original Coca-Cola products. Less than a year later, Coca-Cola reversed course and admitted its mistake.

Today, marketers believe that New Coke may be the most famous failed product in history. But the incident also shows the speed of consumer feedback loops and the impact people have when they vote with their money.

Vote with your feet

Another option is to “vote with your feet” or relocate to an area where the cultural environment, economic opportunities, and other factors are more in line with yours.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans moved out of states with strict business and school closure policies. As people migrated from states like California and New York to states like Florida and Tennessee, a historic shift in population took place. In 2020, California’s population declined for the first time in more than a century.

More powerful currency 2.0

BTC proponents have taken these actions to another level by abandoning fiat currencies altogether. However, this can present unique challenges depending on where they live. This begs the question, which locations best meet the needs of BTC lovers?

In our search for answers, we were inspired to integrate our research into a single report, which we call the BTC Index. Ranked based on what each U.S. state BTC holders are likely to prioritize (< 0 - 100).

BTC Index

Sources of inspiration for the index include the Moderate Currency Defense Alliance’s Moderate Currency Index and the Cato Institute’s 50 States’ Degrees of Freedom Index. Another source of inspiration was New Hampshire’s Free State project, which aims to attract enough liberals to the state to support the direction of liberal influence policy. However, what sets the BTC index apart is that it is written by BTC enthusiasts.

Construct BTC index

The BTC index analyzes all 50 states using four broad categories (nine indicators): cost of living, business friendliness, monetary freedom, and active discovery. We assign up to 25 points for each category and up to 100 points for each state. If the policy is grossly inconsistent with BTC priorities, states may receive negative scores.

Cost of living

The cost of living is estimated through the tax burden, electricity, and housing costs.

Business Friendliness

Business-friendliness indicators include right to work, business environment, and financial stability.

Monetary freedom

Monetary freedom is estimated based on currency transfer licensing requirements and mining regulations.

Proactive discovery

Proactive Positioning is based on a single metric that captures discrepancies that are not included in traditional metrics, such as statements of support or opposition to BTC by public officials in the state.

Use exponents

Technology gives us the freedom to choose where we live and work, and the number of people with BTC is increasing every day. With increased mobility and the rise of remote work, governments need to pay more attention to the needs of BTC holders when formulating policies.

It’s not out of reach to imagine that national and regional governments around the world have clearly set rules and regulations to attract BTC enthusiasts. This has already happened in El Salvador, and when looking at the BTC index, we found that this is also happening in several states in the United States.

We hope that the BTC Index will serve as a useful guide for BTC communities to find their ideal place to live, work and raise their families.