It is a well-known fact that one of the best benefits of cryptocurrencies is that they are open-source, meaning they can aggregate user data absolutely free online. Of course, cryptocurrencies were also created to prioritize privacy. That is why it is not so easy to find out demographic characteristics or use by country. While it may be a big challenge, it is not impossible.
Foremost, let's see why it is so hard to measure crypto adoption.
As we know, the first cryptocurrency - Bitcoin, was created to work as a brand-new form of currency, with fey key elements:
Lack of central authority
Open-source
Lack of geographic restrictions
Privacy
Resistant to censorship
That means users don’t need to provide any personal data to use Bitcoin. Transactions are stored in a database, shared across a blockchain, without the need of personal data or IP addresses.
Anyway, there is a whole industry, working on deriving different patterns and behavior, so that we can have more specific information about cryptocurrency usage across the world.
Top Countries
Cryptocurrencies are very similar to the dollar, as they also operate on a global scale. Their purpose is to make the purchasing of goods and services much easier. More people also see cryptocurrencies as an asset for improving financial inclusion to under banked and underserved populations.
The top ranking countries in Europe are the UK and Switzerland, and if we look at the English-speaking countries, those would be the US, UK and Australia.
China was one of the leaders on the market, but was affected by the crypto ban in the end of 2021, and it slipped to the 13th position.
According to a Chainalysis data, Vietnam, India and Pakistan are countries to lead the way.
Their population holds a different view to crypto holding. For many, it is an investment asset, for others it is a great instrument for money transfer or business transactions.
Of course, for many Eastern European consumers, cryptocurrencies are seen as an asset for avoiding financial institutions and taxes.
Another data, from Statista, corresponds with this information. Anyway, according to them, Nigeria, Thailand and the Philippines are in the lead in cryptocurrency adoption.
Top Cryptocurrencies
It is not a surprise that Bitcoin is the leader in cryptocurrency adoption and market cap. Of course, cryptocurrencies like Cardano, Bitcoin Cash, Monero and Dogecoin, are also popular.
Since 2009, Bitcoin’s adoption has grown at an average rate of more than 100% every year. In the whole world, there are more than 100 million people who have used or owned Bitcoin, and there are about 23.3 million Americans who currently own Bitcoin. Also, globally there are 14,000 Bitcoin ATMs.
Second comes Ethereum, with about 14 million owners. As we know it supports many applications in its ecosystem, while at the same time it is a popular payment medium.
Dogecoin holds the third place with a million owners and more than 4 million users. Most of them are holding the meme coin as a form of investment.
Cryptocurrency regulations
And while cryptocurrencies are a popular asset in many parts of the world, there are some countries, standing on the opposite side. They continue to see cryptocurrencies as volatile assets, with lack of regulations. China and Egypt, for example, are such countries, which have instituted regulations against the usage and trading of cryptocurrencies.
Should we invest in cryptocurrencies
As we see, there are many opinions about cryptocurrencies and their use cases. However, technologies evolve, and there are many reasons to believe that cryptocurrencies will play a significant role in the future. Of course, this is mainly based on personal research and opinion. The only advice we can give you is be careful with cryptocurrency investment (or any investments) and never spend more than you are willing to use.
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