Startups and Bitcoins in Australia
Australia's 7.7 millions km² of deserts and wastelands have left a relatively small area for agricultural production. Country's arid climate only worsens this situation. It explains why more than two-third of 25 million Australians are flocking into five coastal cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Australia, which gained its independence from the Great Britain in 1901, is the federal constitutional monarchy, where Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state and dotcom multimillionaire Malcolm Turnbull - the head of government. Australian political system, which is modeled after that of the United Kingdom, has been traditionally dominated by two major parties: the center-right "Liberal Party of Australia" and center-left "Australian Labor Party". After July 2016 elections 150-members Australian House of Representatives is lead by the pro-government 76-members coalition, headed by Liberals with 45 deputies.
The main pillar of the Australian one-trillion-dollar economy is the export of its mineral riches and livestocks to China and Japan. Those two countries consume almost halve of Australian iron ore, coal, petroleum gases, gold as well as beef, wool, meat of sheep and goat. That is why gradually cooling Asian markets are now taking Australian economy down with them into the precipice of stagnation. However, most of Australians continue to enjoy a lofty personal income and to maintain one of the highest standards of living in the World.
In a past decade Australian government has invested significant administrative and financial resources into the development of the local startup ecosystem. Still, Australia is lagging far behind U.S.A., EU and China in a number of world-class technological companies as well as in a size of venture capital allocated to seed investments.
Trading crypto-currencies as well as organizing ICOs are both legal in Australia. However, Australian law administrators follow steps of their Asian counterparts in trying to regulate digital currency exchanges by introducing harsh legislation, which many independent observers call "draconian". In an attempt to strengthen its anti-money laundering laws Australian gait keepers threaten crypto-traders by imprisonment due to aggravated offences up to 7 years. As a result, many prominent block-chain startups have already declared their intend to leave Australia.
Business Notes for Startups Founders:
political climate: marginally friendly;
economic climate: moderately unfriendly;
regions to focus: internationally;
industries to focus: many;
major limitations: the slowing economy (GDP growth rate has been fluctuating around halve-of-a-percent for almost a decade), dominance of natural resources extraction and agricultural industries, geographical isolation, relatively small population concentrated in a few coastal cities;
stimulus: highly educated work-force, availability of seed financing, well-developed infrastructure, government's support;
opportunities: refocus from local to international markets;
Cryptocurrencies and ICOs (outlook): legal (marginally positive).
The author: Svyatoslav (Svyat) Sedov
Angel investor and founder of The First International Incubator for Silicon Valley Companies (FirstInternational.In) in the Bay Area, CA, USA.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SvjatoslavSedof