India led global crypto adoption, despite regulatory challenges and high trading taxes
Bitcoin ETF boosted institutional transfers, driving growth in high-income regions like North America
Amidst rising interest in cryptocurrencies, the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index unveiled its fifth annual report. It captured significant insights into grassroots adoption across the globe.
This year’s report, covering data from Q3 2021 to Q2 2024, introduced a refined methodology that emphasizes DeFi activity while excluding P2P cryptocurrency exchange trade volumes.
Additionally, by integrating both on-chain and off-chain data, Chainalysis identified which countries are leading in cryptocurrency adoption and why these regions are increasingly embracing digital assets.
Chainalysis crypto adoption report – Explained
According to the latest findings, India and Nigeria remain at the forefront of global crypto adoption, while Indonesia has emerged as the fastest-growing market.
Source: Chainalysis
India has retained its lead in global cryptocurrency adoption for the second straight year, despite a difficult legal environment and hefty trade taxes.
For those unfamiliar, the country’s stringent regulatory position has been in place since 2018. This includes recent actions by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in December 2023. Back then, the FIU issued show-cause notices to nine offshore cryptocurrency exchanges for failing to comply with local regulations.
However, this comprehensive regulatory environment has not deterred Indian investors. The aforementioned numbers demonstrate India’s resilience and leadership in the global cryptocurrency market.
Remarking on the same, Eric Jardine, Research Lead at Chainalysis noted,
“India has also got a fairly wide spread level of adoption across different assets of crypto despite restrictions, implying new participants to crypto would have been participating via services that were not banned.”
USA loses ground?
On the contrary, despite significant media attention around cryptocurrencies in the United States—spurred by presidential candidate Donald Trump and ETF developments—the country was only ranked 4th in terms of global crypto adoption.
The country was ranked below India, Nigeria, and Indonesia. This suggested that major discussions and high-profile events do not always translate into leading adoption rankings.
Nevertheless, the report highlighted that the launch of the Spot Bitcoin [BTC] ETF in the United States has significantly spurred BTC activity worldwide. In fact, there has been major year-over-year growth in institutional transfers and notable hikes in high-income regions like North America and Western Europe.
Diving deeper into adoption rates, Chainalysis’ report revealed,
“Between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the total value of global crypto activity increased substantially, reaching higher levels than those of 2021 during the crypto bull market.”
Source: Chainalysis
Bitcoin – The most adopted token
As expected, Bitcoin has emerged as the most talked-about cryptocurrency and a driving factor behind crypto adoption.
Whether it’s the surge in interest around Bitcoin ETFs or its growing relevance in political discussions, from elections to institutional strategies, BTC consistently attracts attention.
This was further confirmed by a recent update from a user on X, highlighting its undeniable impact on the broader crypto market.
Source: Sina/X
