The fifth annual Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index looks at both on- and off-chain data to determine which countries are leading the world in grassroots crypto adoption. Our research highlights countries where unique cryptocurrency use cases are taking hold, and explores why people in countries around the world are embracing crypto.
The 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index Top 20
Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) dominates our 2024 Index, with seven of the top 20 countries located in the region. CSAO has a unique set of crypto markets with high levels of activity on local crypto exchanges, with merchant services, and in DeFi.
Global crypto activity is increasing
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.
Last year, growth in crypto adoption was driven primarily by lower-middle-income countries. This year, however, crypto activity increased across countries of all income brackets, with a pullback in high-income countries since the beginning of 2024.
The launch of the Bitcoin ETF in the United States triggered an increase in the total value of Bitcoin activity across all regions, with particularly strong year-over-year growth in institutional-sized transfers and in regions with higher-income countries, such as North America and Western Europe. On the contrary, year-over-year growth of stablecoins was higher among retail and professional-sized transfers and is supporting real-world use cases in low-income and lower-middle-income countries in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, in particular.
When we look at year-over-year growth in terms of types of services, we see that DeFi activity increased significantly in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. This growth likely drove an increase in altcoin activity in these regions.
Similar to last year, Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) is the third largest crypto region we studied, accounting for more than $750.0 billion in crypto asset inflows between July 2023 and June 2024. CSAO accounts for 16.6% of global value received, placing the region behind only North America and Western Europe, and well above the remaining regions.
Crypto activity in CSAO is driven by centralized exchanges, with transfers in sizes above $10,000 representing the largest share of value received, suggesting substantial professional and institutional activity.
Indonesia leads the region in terms of cryptocurrency value received during the time period studied, at approximately $157.1 billion.
Seven of the top 20 countries in our Global Adoption Index are in the CSAO region: India (1), Indonesia (3), Vietnam (5), the Philippines (8), Pakistan (9), Thailand (16), and Cambodia (17).
While other countries in the CSAO region, such as Singapore, are seeing crypto adoption fueled by regulatory progress and merchant services, Indonesia’s market is particularly dynamic and showcases crypto’s diverse use cases beyond the typical. Indonesia is one of the fastest-growing crypto markets in the region and has the highest year-over-year growth at nearly 200%.