India, ranked fourth in crypto adoption, recorded $172 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between July 2021 and June 2022, as it continues to lead the Southern Asia and Oceania regions, blockchain analysis firm Chainanalysis said in a recent report.
The 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency report showed Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and Singapore followed closely behind India, each recording over $ 100 billion in transactions in the same period.
However, Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan and Oceania island nations like the Maldives saw less engagement with cryptocurrencies.
The data showed global adoption has leveled off in 2021 after growing consistently since mid-2019. The international adoption rate slowed down amid a bear market but remained above the pre-bull market levels.
"Since then, adoption has moved in waves – it fell in Q3 (third quarter), which saw crypto price declines; rebounded in Q4, when we saw prices rebound to new all-time highs, and has fallen in each of the last two quarters as we've entered a bear market," said the report.
Vietnam is ranked first in cryptocurrency adoption for the second consecutive year. "Indian and Pakistani citizens were the second and third-highest adopters of cryptocurrency globally, respectively," the report said.
The sub-rankings show that Vietnam wielded high purchasing power and population-adjusted adoption across centralized, DeFi , and P2P cryptocurrency tools.
In 2020, twenty-one per cent of Vietnamese consumers reported using cryptocurrency, second only to Nigeria at 32 per cent, and the adoption rate has likely only grown since then, said Chainanalysis.
The US moved up to the fifth position on the index from eighth in 2021 and sixth in 2020.
China's Re-Entry Into Crypto Index
Chainanalysis said China had re-entered the top 10 spots of its cryptocurrency index this year from the 13th place in 2021. "Our sub-indexes show that China is powerful in the usage of centralized services, ranking second for purchasing power-adjusted transaction volume," the report said.
It is especially significant, given the Chinese government's crackdown on cryptocurrency activities last year. The report pointed out that while the ban had initially caused a significant sell-off, the market rebounded strongly in recent months, suggesting the ban had little effect or was loosely enforced.
