The rate at which individuals around the world have adopted cryptocurrencies into their everyday purchases has soared over the last year, according to crypto-analysis firm Chainalysis.
In an August 18 preview of the firm’s annual Geography of Cryptocurrency report, Chainalysis reported that the adoption of cryptocurrencies by individuals has risen by over 880% over the last year.
To track the adoption of cryptocurrencies by individuals, Chainalysis examined a number of factors, including the volume of peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges and the value of individual transactions relative to the average living wage in a specific country. A total of 154 countries were examined.
Vietnam tops the charts
The five countries that topped the list for crypto adoption over the last year are Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Ukraine, and Kenya.
Chainalysis attributes the rise of crypto amongst individuals in these emerging markets to a number of factors. These factors include individuals using crypto to “preserve their savings in the face of currency devaluation”, and to carry out international transactions.
China and the United States both suffered large year-on-year reductions in P2P trade volumes. The United States, for instance, fell from 16th in Chainalysis’ ranking of P2P trade volumes last year to 109th this year, a dramatic decrease. China saw a similarly dramatic decrease falling from 53rd to 155th.
Chainalysis attributes the reductions in P2P trade volumes in the United States to the professionalization and institutionalization of cryptocurrency. As for China, it pointed to ongoing governmental crackdowns on cryptocurrency trading.
Is crypto the future?
Despite the rapid growth over the last year, Chainalysis was careful not to speculate that its findings were evidence of a trend towards crypto in the coming years.
“Our biggest question for the next 12 months is how much adoption will continue on those platform categories compared to new and emerging models we haven’t seen yet,” it said.
The crypto-analysis firm did, however, end on an upbeat message stating that its findings “show that cryptocurrency is a truly global phenomenon.” And as several South American countries begin to adopt Bitcoin as an official currency, and retail giants like Walmart explore crypto products, it’s hard to argue that the technology has not yet proven itself viable.
Leave a Reply