In its latest move to attract tech businesses and high-value investors, Texas legislators passed two new laws positioning Bitcoin as a legitimate and secure currency. If all goes according to plan, Texas’ crypto scene could supplant Silicon Valley as America’s leading tech hub.
The California Exodus
Why is Texas crypto taking off? Friendly laws and a California exodus.
Residents of California face some of the steepest tax rates in the United States. Moreover, Silicon Valley is home to some of the nation’s most expensive real estate. In cities like San Francisco, a six-figure income no longer provides the kind of secure middle class lifestyle it once did. Plus, newly wealthy investors are growing ever more disappointed in their buying power in Silicon Valley’s expensive environs.
To wit, many of the nation’s most promising tech companies, tech workers, and tech investors have their eyes on greener pastures, and with its generous tax rate, Texas is now attracting some of the world’s top talent. Already, tech-world luminaries, including Tesla mastermind Elon Musk, have upped sticks and moved south. And as Hewlett Packard and Oracle follow Tesla’s path, it won’t be long before some of the Bay Area’s most profitable companies start looking eastward for a place to relocate.
Now cryptocurrency businesses are getting the same kind of Texas welcome as notable entrepreneurs. With Texas’s new Bitcoin laws coming into effect this month, there is a sense among tech aficionados that the region may be able to challenge Silicon Valley’s dominance.
Will Texas Take Over?
So how successful will Governor Abbot’s appeals to these Bitcoin investors and businesses be? Bitcoin diehards tend to occupy a radically different demographic than most traditional investors. For starters, they tend to skew much younger and accumulate wealth independently rather than using the traditional index fund route.
Moreover, cryptocurrency investors are growing tired of burdensome tax rates in cities with extraordinarily high costs-of-living. In Texas and Arizona, a decent income goes much farther than in San Francisco, Seattle, and New York.
If the state’s new Bitcoin laws have their desired effect, Texas might just become the cryptocurrency hub of the United States for the foreseeable future.
Consult With a Cryptocurrency Lawyer
The Kelly Law Firm works with cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses in Arizona and Texas. If you need assistance with a digital currency or distributed ledger legal problem, get in touch.
