Bitnodes, a cryptocurrency statistics website, released the global node distribution for Bitcoin. At the top of the list stand the United States with the most reachable Bitcoin nodes at 2,521, which is 24.45% of the worldwide number of nodes of 10,312 as of the time of writing this. The majority of the US nodes are hosted in California, home of Silicon Valley, one of the global centers of cutting-edge technology.
The Runner-ups – Germany, France, Netherlands and Others
At the second position of the most nodes that are reachable globally, stands Germany with 1,953 Bitcoin nodes. This equates to an 18.94% share of the nodes spread worldwide, further solidifying the countries reputation for having one of the leading and most forward-thinking economies in the world. Germany doesn’t tax Bitcoin as it views it as a legitimate tender and not as goods. It is followed by France at the third place with 695 (6.74%) nodes and on the fourth spot, the Netherlands with 500 (4.85%) reachable Bitcoin nodes.
China and The Rest of Asia
The remaining six places on the top 10 countries in the Bitcoin nodes distribution list are as follows: 5th place goes to China with 409 nodes (3.97%), 6th is Canada with 392 (3.80%), in the 7th position is the UK with 354 (3.43%), Singapore comes at 8th with 324 (3.14%), Russian Federation is 9th having 268 (2.60%) and the 10th place goes to Japan with 248 nodes (2.40%).
The list is dominated by western countries with only three entries from Asia, with China as their best representative, with only 409 nodes, even though it has the world’s largest mining pools. The harsh regulations and bans have taken their toll, forcing a lot of the Asian crypto miners to be relocated to other parts of the world, drastically reducing the number of reachable nodes. Even the home of the crypto goliath, Bitcoin, is relatively low in the list at 10th place with just 248 nodes. Of course, there are other factors that affect this as well, such as the requirement for the nodes to be constantly online and host the full blockchain that grows with each transaction, eating away more and more storage space. On the other hand, there are other regulations such as the ones in Singapore, where Bitcoin is considered goods and any company involved with crypto levying 7% GST from them.