According to new research from the blockchain analytical company Chainalyisis, Ukraine beats Russia, China, and more in adoption metrics. The Index looks at three on-chain metrics, including the total value of on-chain crypto transactions weighted by purchasing power per capita (PPP), the value of on-chain retail transfers weighted by PPP, and the number of on-chain crypto deposits weighted by the number of internet users. Chainlaysis also factored in the volume of trades made on peer-to-peer crypto exchanges.
Ukraine leads in crypto adoption bearing Russia and China.
The Chainalaysis report shows varying levels of development across the crypto sectors of many countries, with the Index’s per capita weighting ranking China poorly by a number of on-chain deposits and P2P trade due to its large population, which drags the country down to fourth overall despite China dominating on-chain rankings by both retail and total value. The two-top performing nations by P2P exchange volume, Kenya and Venezuela, rank in the top five overall despite failing to rank in the top ten on any other metric, reported Saumil Kohli.
“Venezuelans use crypto more when the country’s native fiat currency is losing value to inflation.”
However, the emphasis on P2P volume may overlook the establishment of local regulated exchanges as an indicator of cryptocurrency adoption. The report skews the results in favor of developing countries that lack a robust financial sector. The United States ranks below Kenya despite outperforming the African nation in three of the four criteria because of that reason. Chainalysis described South American country Venezuela as an “excellent example” of the forces that drive cryptocurrency adoption within emerging countries. Venezuelans use crypto more when their native fiat currency is losing value to inflation, suggesting that Venezuelans turn to cryptocurrency to preserve savings they may otherwise lose, the report states.
