September 9, 2020
Based on the recent report from Chainalysis, a blockchain research firm, there are ten countries where cryptocurrency usage is premier; however, there are only two even developed economies: China and the United States.
The Global Crypto Adoption Index, Chainalysis’s newest developed methodology, is used to measure cryptocurrency activities among everyday citizens worldwide.
“The intention is to highlight the countries where the most residents have moved the biggest share of their financial activity to cryptocurrency,” Chainalysis stated in a blog post.
“While trading and speculation are important to the cryptocurrency economy, we wanted our index to emphasize grassroots adoption by everyday users,” it said.
Global Crypto Adoption Index accounts for each country’s population and the size of its economy when evaluating four metrics: on-chain cryptocurrency valued received, on-chain retail value transferred, the number of on-chain crypto deposits, and exchange trade volume.
Out of the 154 countries that have been analyzed by the firm, it was found that Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela lead the world when it comes to crypto adoption. Completing the top 10 are China, Colombia, Kenya, Nigeria, the United States, and Vietnam.
The firm’s data appears to be parallel with that of independent researcher Matt Ahlborg, founder of Bitcoin analytics site Useful Tulips. He had previously noted that Africa and Latin America are currently showing tremendous progress in interest with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Latin America leads to crypto adoption
In the Latin American region, it is Venezuela and Colombia that are currently leading the way to Bitcoin trading volume; this is according to data from Useful Tulips and Chainalysis.
Particularly, Venezuela has attracted Chainalysis’s attention because geopolitical conditions are making it an almost perfect “case study” for the ecosystem:
“Venezuela represents an excellent example of what drives cryptocurrency adoption in developing countries and how citizens use it to mitigate economic instability,” the firm noted.
“Our data shows that Venezuelans use cryptocurrency more when the country’s native fiat currency is losing value to inflation,” the report reads, “suggesting that Venezuelans turn to cryptocurrency to preserve savings they may otherwise lose.”
Meanwhile, Colombia ranks in the ninth spot of the world crypto adoption regardless of strict regulations that govern the country’s industry and act as a logjam for broader acceptance.
However, the lawmakers in Colombia are actively working to make the country more “Bitcoin friendly,” trying to ease regulations limiting trading and other activities. The increasing number of Bitcoin ATMs and payment fintech in Colombia may also be considered a signal to foreign investors, developers, and entrepreneurs that the region is prepared for a crypto explosion.
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