The first-ever article on CryptoSlate, published in 2017, examined the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. Today, we’re revisiting that list and taking a look at which countries continue to be crypto havens and which have dropped off the list entirely.
Spoiler alert: 2025’s top country didn’t even make the list eight years ago, and 2017’s winner now falls outside the top 10.
Most crypto friendly countries in 2025
The new order centers on clear licensing, predictable taxes, and space for institutional flows, while several early leaders from 2017 fade as enforcement tightens or priorities shift.
The United Arab Emirates ranks first in 2025, marking an eight-year reshuffle in the jurisdictions attracting digital-asset activity.
The UAE’s rise has been built on purpose-built regulators in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and onshore zones that let firms obtain a single, comprehensible rule set. Individuals face no personal income tax and corporate structures can be organized in free zones that publish crypto licenses and compliance guides, giving companies a path to operate at scale.
The country also channels sizable transaction volumes through its financial centers, a dynamic that appears in regional flow data and in the growing footprint of global exchanges seeking permissions there.
2025 rankJurisdiction2017 status1United Arab EmiratesNew2SwitzerlandImproved3SingaporeImproved4Hong KongNew5CanadaNew6United StatesNew7Cayman IslandsNew8BermudaNew9AustraliaDeclined10PanamaNew
Winners
Switzerland remains near the top on the back of long-running “Crypto Valley” infrastructure, stable banking interfaces for token issuers and custody firms, and a known posture from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
Retail investors benefit from favorable capital-gains treatment in some cantons, which continues to attract treasury and trading operations. Singapore moves up as its Payment Services Act matured into a licensing framework that lets exchanges, brokers, and custodians operate under one supervisor.
The city-state’s lack of a capital-gains tax for individuals further reduces friction for staff options and liquidity events.
Hong Kong reenters the upper tier after its Securities and Futures Commission rolled out a full licensing regime for virtual-asset trading platforms and investment products. The city pairs that rulebook with no capital-gains tax on personal crypto income, positioning it as a distribution hub for tokenized funds and structured notes.
Canada’s standing reflects a track record of approving crypto exchange-traded products and supervisory guidance for platforms under provincial regulators.
The United States, while wrestling with federal rule fragmentation, now channels large institutional flows after spot Bitcoin ETFs opened in early 2024, with broader digital-asset legislation back on the agenda in 2025, as mapped by the Atlantic Council’s Crypto Regulation Tracker.
Policy competition now runs through the tax code. Jurisdictions that remove capital-gains frictions or offer simple rules for long-term holdings are attracting both staff and corporate treasuries. Germany exempts crypto held for more than 12 months from income tax, a rule that strengthens domestic self-custody and staking strategies.
El Salvador maintains zero capital gains and income tax on Bitcoin transactions alongside legal-tender status, creating clear accounting treatment for inbound miners and service providers, per Koinly.
Singapore and Hong Kong do not levy capital-gains taxes on individuals, and the UAE’s personal tax regime continues to be a draw for founders and market-making teams.
Losers
The other side of the ledger shows how early momentum can ebb as frameworks tighten or market structure changes.
Estonia, first in 2017, lands outside the top tier after revoking thousands of licenses and moving supervision from the Financial Intelligence Unit to the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority to align with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regime.
Companies now navigate stricter substance, audit, and capital requirements, and the country is focused on EU harmonization rather than issuing large volumes of standalone licenses.
Japan, fifth in 2017, continues to refine token classifications under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and policymakers have prepared a shift to a flat 20 percent capital-gains tax from 2026, moves aimed at integrating token markets with existing securities rules.
South Korea’s 2024 Virtual Asset User Protection Act brought broader oversight, market-abuse rules, and incident-reporting thresholds.
Financial authorities also recognized crypto firms as venture businesses in 2025 to open credit channels and support capital formation. The pivot created a compliance-heavy environment that favors larger platforms with audited custody and risk systems.
The Netherlands recedes as national programs wound down and policy work shifted to EU MiCA implementation, with activity now centered on industry associations and bank-led pilots rather than broad national initiatives.
Russia exits the friendliest jurisdiction lists as rules that took effect in early 2025 constrain domestic use and reserve crypto activity for narrow investor classes, aligning with central-bank communications on payment restrictions and the digital ruble program.
What separates the 2025 leaders is the depth of institutional plumbing.
Chainalysis’ latest index adds weight to large transactions of one million dollars and above to reflect the post-ETF environment, a change that elevates markets with bank-grade custody, liquid exchange rails, and rules that let pension funds and asset managers hold exposure at size, according to Chainalysis.
Those flows put the United States near the top for overall adoption even as retail-focused metrics favor India, which leads in grassroots usage.
Asia-Pacific accounts for more than one-third of global market share and remains the fastest-expanding region by activity in Chainalysis’ datasets, driven by exchange hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong and volume out of India and Vietnam.
The eight-year comparison makes the through line clear. Jurisdictions that produce a single door for licensing, publish tax treatments that finance teams can model, and integrate banks, custodians, and market surveillance into the rulebook are the ones attracting scale.
The UAE, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States now anchor that cohort. Countries that pulled back or reoriented toward broader financial-crime controls have ceded ground, with Estonia, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, and Russia reshaped by those choices.
The result is a map that rewards regulatory maturity and institutional access rather than early-stage experimentation.
Most crypto-friendly countries changes from 2017 to 2025
Country2017 Rank2025 RankChange2017 Status2025 StatusUAENot ranked1NewNot in 2017 rankingsGlobal crypto hub, VARA regulation, $30B+ transactions, zero taxesSwitzerland32+1Crypto Valley Zug, headquarters for major projectsStill Crypto Valley leader, clear FINMA framework, favorable taxesSingapore103+7SGD digitization trial, TenX developmentMAS regulation, no capital gains tax, strong fintech sectorHong KongNot ranked4NewNot in 2017 rankingsSFC licensing, no capital gains tax, institutional focusCanadaNot ranked5NewNot in 2017 rankingsEarly Bitcoin ETF adoption, clear CSA guidelinesUnited StatesNot ranked6NewNot in 2017 rankingsMajor regulatory reforms 2025, Trump administration supportCayman IslandsNot ranked7NewNot in 2017 rankingsVASP framework, no direct taxes, financial hubBermudaNot ranked8NewNot in 2017 rankingsDABA framework, BMA guidance, tax benefitsAustralia79-2Removed double taxation, Parliamentary Friends groupASIC regulation, comprehensive framework, sandbox programsPanamaNot ranked10NewNot in 2017 rankingsNo capital gains tax, developing digital asset lawsEl SalvadorNot ranked11NewNot in 2017 rankingsBitcoin legal tender, zero crypto taxes, Bitcoin CityGermanyNot ranked12NewNot in 2017 rankingsTax-free after 1 year holding, BaFin oversightEstonia113-12First e-residency, blockchain healthcare systemTransitioning to EU MiCA framework, FSA oversight from 2025Japan514-9Bitcoin recognition, governmental blockchain adoptionFSA regulation, moving tokens under FIEA, planned tax reformSouth Korea815-7Major trading volumes, FinTech roadmapsVAUPA implementation, FSC oversight, venture company recognitionMauritius616-10ConsenSys partnership for “Ethereum Island”Basic framework but less competitive globallyNetherlands917-8Government blockchain research since 2013, Bitcoin City ArnhemDBC program ended 2024, EU MiCA complianceGibraltar418-14First regulatory framework for blockchainMaintaining blockchain framework but lower prominenceRussia2Banned/Restricted–Masterchain ledger, Putin support for EthereumDomestic crypto banned, restricted to wealthy investors onlyMentioned in this article
