Vietnam, India, and Pakistan lead the world in terms of cryptocurrency adoption, emphasizing the resilience of peer-to-peer monetary systems in emerging economies.
The Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021 evaluated 154 countries based on three key metrics: value of cryptocurrencies received on-chain, retail value transferred on-chain, and peer-to-peer trade volume. Each metric was weighted by purchasing power parity.
Vietnam received the highest index score for its strong performance on all three metrics. India was a distant second, but still performed exceptionally well for value received on-chain and retail value received on-chain. Pakistan ranked third with a strong performance on all three metrics.
The top 20 countries were largely made up of emerging economies, with countries like Tanzania, Togo and even Afghanistan ranking. Interestingly, the United States and China saw their rankings drop to eighth and ninth, respectively. For the 2020 index, China ranked fourth and the United States ranked sixth.
Vietnam’s strong ranking is corroborated by an independent study conducted by Australia-based comparison website Finder.com. In the study of retail users, Vietnam led a survey of 27 countries in terms of cryptocurrency adoption.
Peer-to-peer crypto exchanges like LocalBitcoins and Paxful are leading the rise in adoption, especially in countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Venezuela. Some of these countries have experienced strict capital controls and hyperinflation, making cryptocurrencies an essential means of conducting transactions. As Chainalysis noted, “P2P platforms have a larger share of the total transaction volume comprised of smaller and retail payments of less than $ 10,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.”
In early August, Nigeria ranked first in the world in Google searches for “Bitcoin.” The nation of 400 million has made Sub-Saharan Africa the world leader in P2P Bitcoin trading.
In the meantime, In Latin America, several countries are exploring the possibility of more widespread acceptance of digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC). In June of this year, El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognize BTC as legal tender.
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