According to a recent report by Chainalysis, India leads the world in cryptocurrency adoption, followed by Nigeria and Vietnam. However, North America accounts for nearly a quarter of the total value received by cryptocurrency exchanges, with the United States leading the way.
To calculate the level of adoption, Chainalysis used web traffic data from 13 billion web visits to track five types of activities measured in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita. In other words, “if two countries receive an equal amount of cryptocurrency at centralized services, the country with a lower PPP per capita ranks higher.” This helps determine where “people on a daily basis are embracing cryptocurrencies the most.”
The report shows that cryptocurrency adoption is decreasing worldwide, except in low to middle-income countries (LMIs) like India, Nigeria, and Ukraine, which have seen increased acceptance since the second quarter of 2022 when global usage started declining significantly.
This trend holds promise for the future of cryptocurrencies. LMIs are typically developing countries with growing industries and dynamic populations. If LMIs represent the future, then the data suggests that cryptocurrencies will play a significant role in that future.
Central and South Asia, along with Oceania; Central, North, and West Africa; and North America together account for the highest transaction value received.
While North America dominates in terms of quantity, the trading volume of organizations has decreased noticeably starting from April. The share of stablecoins in that volume has also decreased significantly, from 70.3% in February to 48.8% in June. The weighted trading volume in decentralized finance (DeFi) has decreased from over 75% in August 2022 to below 50% in July 2023.
Central, North, and West Africa account for 17.6% of the cryptocurrency value received, with the United Kingdom having more than double the volume of the second-place country, Germany. The UK ranks 14th globally in terms of overall adoption.
However, France leads in DeFi growth. DeFi has seen growth in Central, South Asia, and Oceania; East Europe; and Central, North, and West Africa compared to the same period last year in the 12 months ending June 2023.
Central, South Asia, and Oceania account for 19.3% of the cryptocurrency value received, with India leading and Vietnam coming in second at around 100%.
China’s trading volume has been affected by bans in East Asia since 2020. However, China generated over $75 billion in trading value in the 12 months ending in June, with nearly three-quarters of it being processed by centralized exchanges.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey saw significant web traffic to non-replaceable token websites, and Saudi Arabia led the world in trading volume growth, with a 12% increase. Nigeria surpassed other Sub-Saharan countries in trading volume, contributing 2.3% of the world’s volume. Bitcoin is most popular in that region, making up 9.3% of the volume compared to 4.2% in East Asia.
In Latin America (where Chainalysis includes Mexico and Puerto Rico), Argentina and Brazil are major contributors to trading volume. The report highlights the role of cryptocurrencies in protecting users against inflation in the region.