Austria is in the forefront of blockchain adoption

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Austria, crypto and blockchain

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I'm a firm believer in the disruptive potential of blockchain technology in many sectors of our society. That's one of my favourite topics to read and write about. I think blockchain and cryptocurrency are some of the transforming forces of our time. Call me crazy, but I think crypto and blockchain are to modern society what steam power was during the Industrial Revolution, and that's why I was so interested to learn more about what is going on in Austria.

The Austrian blockchain push

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Austria currently has two fronts of blockchain development happening in parallel, one in the public sphere and another in the private one.

In the public sphere, the initiative is led by the Austrian Public Service Blockchain (APSB), a consortium of public administration institutions such as the Austrian Economic Chamber, City of Vienna, Federal Computing Center, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, and others. The private initiative is being developed by the Blockchain Initiative Austria (BIA).

They are working on several initiatives in different Austrian economy and public administration sectors, jointly or separately. I want to highlight the ones that are most appealing to me.

Blockchain education

This is very important as one of the main reasons cryptocurrency and blockchain are not advancing as fast as possible is a clear knowledge gap in the general population regarding that technology.

With that in mind, the APSB is promoting the creation of a blockchain working group where participants can share ideas, discuss initiatives and organize events related to blockchain technology.

They are also helping small businesses and startups better understand how they can benefit from the technology and which blockchain better suits their needs.

Data certification

The APSB and BIA are working on a pilot project where they will upload digital versions of documents to prove that the data remains unaltered with time. This may seem obvious to those who are used to working with blockchain, but I guess they are doing it to earn the trust of people and institutions in the country.

Either way, I hope they can pull it off, and other countries start moving their paperwork to the blockchain as well. I've talked before about how expensive and time-consuming the legacy system can be when it comes to verifying the authenticity of documents, so I see a lot of potential here.

Energy

This is another topic which I've covered before. As a Chemical Engineering with a particular interest in solar and nuclear power, I'm passionate about studying new energy generation and distribution models. I believe that the centralized model that is the norm in many countries is inefficient and outdated.

The future of energy lies in decentralization, and that's precisely what Austria is experimenting with. The country's largest energy supplier is studying the use of blockchain and smart contracts to allow P2P energy trading and create the opportunity to create decentralized energy suppliers. This is another thing that I hope other countries copy!

Crypto taxes

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As governments get more involved with crypto and blockchain, it's expected that they will try to regulate it to some extent and the Austrian government is no exception. Crypto investors in the country will be taxed at 27.5% for any crypto assets they hold since Feb 28, 2021.

The government claims that it's taking steps to create more legal clarity and inspire trust in the new technology, but I'm skeptical. I just hope that this doesn't hinder the advances of crypto and blockchain in the country.

Final thoughts

It was quite a surprise to me because I had never heard anything about Austria involved with blockchain or crypto, but it looks like they are taking many steps to integrate more of it into their administration and economy. It remains to be seen if this initiative will turn into something positive for the country itself and the crypto community or if it will backfire. Still, it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

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9 comments
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Energy decentralization is a big step. We are going to have to keep pushing that. There is a vested interest by those who are profiting off centralized energy to keep things as they are.

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The Austrian government has taken a bold step in cryptocurrency but whether is going to be in a positive or negative direction is yet to be seen, because for some reasons undisclosed by every Government are either out to sabotage a development or to give it credence by getting involved as you rightly noted. Let's watch this closely, of course not, with pessimism but positively hoping it turns out better as it will become a huge achievement for the Government and all of us eventually.

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