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Report: Vietnam, India, USA Among Leaders in Crypto Adoption
A new report by Chainalysis shows that Vietnam, India and Pakistan are the top three countries in terms of crypto adoption but the USA remains in the top 10.
The 2021 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index also shows strong performances by the Ukraine, Nigeria and Kenya. The report also shows that overall crypto adoption is up a staggering 881% over the last year or 2300% since 2019.
Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria Embrace Crypto as Savings Technology
Vietnam ranked number #1 for crypto adoption and it’s just one of the many emerging markets that’s using crypto as a way to hedge against a weak local fiat currency and preserve personal savings. Vietnam has often ranked high for crypto adoption over the last couple years.
Nigeria (6th), Kenya (5th) and Venezuela (8th) are other countries where citizens are trying to avoid losing value to currency devaluation.
Interesting many of the emerging markets rely on peer-to-peer exchanges because they simply don’t have access to centralized exchanges as local governments have clamped down hard on crypto businesses.
Meanwhile the USA ranked ninth on the top 10 countries in terms of crypto adoption but that’s more a result of institutional investment rather than individuals.
Here’s a look at the complete Chainalysis Top 20 Chart:
Courtesy of Chainalysis
China, USA Drop in Rankings
China has been a leader in the cryptocurrency space but saw a dramatic drop from sixth place in last year’s report all the way down to 13th.
There’s a good chance China’s dip in crypto adoption is at least partially due to new restrictions placed by the government on crypto earlier this year.
China incorporated a near total ban on crypto mining in particularly. Crypto advocates believe that might be good for the long-term health of Bitcoin, however, as it helps decentralize the mining power behind the cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile the USA also dropped several spots. The Chainalysis report states that both China and the USA are seeing significantly less peer-to-peer transfers of cryptocurrency, which likely illustrates the rise of institutionalized trading in the USA and the impact of the Chinese government’s restrictions.
Russia also saw a precipitous drop going from second place overall in the 2020 edition all the way down to 18th.
Will Adoption Boom Continue?
With cryptocurrency prices continuing to appreciate its anyone’s guess as to whether crypto adoption can keep up this torrid pace.
Overall it bodes well for the industry that crypto adoption is happening in a wide variety of countries. It also speaks well for the utility of cryptocurrencies that they can be used for different things in different countries.
In particular crypto seems to be used as an actual currency in emerging markets while in Western and European markets it seems to be more of an investment.
You can check out the complete 2021 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index here including the methodology behind it.
