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India and Nigeria Lead the World in Crypto Adoption Again, but Indonesia Is Fastest Growing: Chainalysis

The U.S. maintained its fourth position from 2023, while Vietnam fell from third to fifth.

Updated Sep 11, 2024, 5:19 p.m. Published Sep 11, 2024, 12:00 p.m.
(16:9 CROP) The flag of India and Nigeria. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
(16:9 CROP) The flag of India and Nigeria. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
  • India maintained its top position in Chainalysis' annual global crypto adoption report.
  • Indonesia has the highest year-over-year growth at nearly 200% in Central and Southern Asia.

India and Nigeria have maintained the top two positions in the world in terms of grassroots crypto adoption but Indonesia is the fastest growing, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis' annual report released Wednesday.

Since last year, Indonesia jumped four places to third as one of the fastest-growing crypto markets. Within the Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) Region, Indonesia has the highest year-over-year growth at nearly 200% and the highest cryptocurrency value received, at approximately $157.1 billion.

As many as seven of the top 20 countries came from the CSAO region.

The U.S. maintained its fourth position from 2023, while Vietnam fell from third to fifth.

The report was the fifth such exercise undertaken by Chainalysis. It ranked 151 countries for which sufficient data existed between Q3 2021 to Q2 2024, with a slight change in its methodology. It excluded calculating P2P cryptocurrency exchange trade volumes and instead factored in DeFi activity.

India's return to the top despite Indonesia's charge could be attributed to it the nation giving, "if not legitimacy, at least little more credibility" to the crypto eco system, by recently registering both Binance and KuCoin, off shore exchanges it had previously taken action against.

The report also said Indonesia's crypto market is not being driven by regulatory progress but by trading opportunities through alternative investment opportunities such as meme coins to make quick profits and a "higher share of both decentralized exchange (DEX) and decentralized finance (DeFi) activity than those of other countries in the region, as well as the global average."

Read More: 'Pig Butchering' Scams Remain Dangerous Threat in Crypto Markets, Chainalysis Report Says


Amitoj Singh

Amitoj Singh is a CoinDesk reporter focusing on regulation and the politics shaping the future of finance. He also presents shows for CoinDesk TV on occasion. He has previously contributed to various news organizations such as CNN, Al Jazeera, Business Insider and SBS Australia. Previously, he was Principal Anchor and News Editor at NDTV (New Delhi Television Ltd.), the go-to news network for Indians globally. Amitoj owns a marginal amount of Bitcoin and Ether below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

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