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Crypto, the buzzword in the world of finance. There are currently around 31 million users of these digital assets in Europe, according to estimations from cryptocurrency payment gateway TripleA.

Asia is leading by 263 million users, followed by North America with 57 million, and Africa with 38 million.

Within Europe, it varies widely depending on the country.

According to the 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index from Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform based in New York, Eastern European countries are the biggest fans of crypto investments. 

On a scale from 0 to 1, the index shows where most people are putting the greatest share of their wealth into cryptocurrency. 

The European top three are all in the east. Ukraine (0.215) leads the way, followed by Turkey (0.142) and Russia (0.140).

The focus then shifts to the west. The UK (0.121) comes fourth and Spain (0.062) takes the fifth spot.

However, when looking at the globe as a whole, Europe takes a backseat. The so-called “Global South” is the shining crypto star.

Asia dominates the global picture

India leads grassroots crypto adoption worldwide, taking the maximum score on the index (1). Nigeria (0.642) and Vietnam (0.568) come next.

Coming in at under 0.5, the US(0.367) and Ukraine (0.215) are on the fourth and fifth places. The latter is the only European country on the world’s top five and 10.

According to Chainalysis, Central and South Asia is the region where crypto adoption is the highest. In fact, six of the top 10 countries are located there.

Crypto investments are on the rise

While Bitcoin is around its all-time high value, the overall market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies has risen 5% in 24 hours to $2.44 trillion, more than the GDP of Germany, the third biggest economy in the world. 

With crypto gaining popularity in the markets, there is also a considerable amount of effort in adopting it into the traditional financial system.

In Europe, there are more than 1,100 blockchain-related entities thriving between Switzerland, Liechtenstein and northern Italy, and are worth a combined $185 billion, as of December 2022. 

There are also a lot of lower-middle-income (LMI) countries, such as El Salvador, who are leading in adopting cryptocurrency. The country became the first one to require all businesses in the country to accept Bitcoin.