Dave Koppenheffer over that The Motley Fool has put together his list for the top five most Bitcoin-friendly cities in the US.
While adoption by businesses and retailers has been spotty throughout 2013, the growth has been promising. And as we’ve seen already, people can subsist on Bitcoins alone in the US, at least for short periods.
Still, some cities are more accepting than others, and it should be no surprise which cities got on board with digital currencies first. You can probably guess three or four of the cities on this list without thinking too hard about it.
5. Philadelphia
2013 was a pretty good year for Philly. The Eagles made the playoffs, and Koppenheffer counts 16 local merchants who accept Bitcoin payments. “Combine a number of technology businesses, a pizzeria, and even an art gallery with a dedicated Bitcoin community, and you end up with a strong choice to open the countdown,” he writes.
4. Portland, Oregon
Of course Rip City would be an early adopter of Bitcoin. Fourteen merchants accept the digital currency in a city half the size of Philly. Plus, local startup Gliph is making mobile payments easier for Android users.
3. Los Angeles
America’s second-largest city is home to some 35 Bitcoin merchants, per Koppenheffer’s count, and about 300 Bitcoin Meet-Up members. There was also that Tesla Model S that was paid for in Bitcoins a couple of weeks ago down in Costa Mesa.
2. New York
The Big Apple makes it only to second on the list because of its “low-merchant-to-population ratio — which is something like 160,000 to 1,” Koppenheffer writes.
1. San Francisco
Yep, the title of most Bitcoin-friendly city goes to the largest city in Silicon Valley. That merchant-to-population ratio is a much friendlier 30,000 to 1 in San Francisco, which is also home to Bitcon startups Coinbase and Tradehill, among others.