Latin America and Turkey Have the Most Cryptocurrency Users, Poll Shows

Cryptocurrency usage has been expanding globally and a new survey confirms that trend. The poll conducted by Statista shows that the citizens of troubled countries tend to exploit the benefits of decentralized digital money far more readily than the citizens of thriving nations.

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Study Determines Global Cryptocurrency Adoption

The 2019 edition of the Statista Global Consumer Survey offers a worldwide perspective on consumption and explores how consumers think. It covers dozens of industries and attempts to answer questions like “How many Americans have a video on demand subscription?” and “What is the demographic profile of online food shoppers in the UK?” It polls more than 400,000 consumers in 46 countries.

“How common are cryptocurrencies around the world?” is another key question put forward by the authors of the survey. It’s been asked of around 1,000 people in each participating country. The results present the share of respondents who said they used or owned cryptocurrencies.

According to a summary of the study published recently by Statista, Latin America is a region where crypto holders and users form large minorities. Five of the top 10 countries in the sample are located south of the U.S. border. All of them scored in the double digits in terms of crypto adoption. In Brazil and Colombia, 18% of the respondents have admitted to owning and using digital assets. They are followed by Argentina with 16% and Chile with 11%.

Venezuela is a notable omission in the summary. Uncontrollable hyperinflation has created favorable conditions for wider adoption of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin cash (BCH). There are now over 200 businesses accepting BCH payments in Caracas and other cities in the country, according to the Marco Coino app. It’s likely that many more merchants, such as the mining parts supplier Coincoin, accept BCH and other major digital currencies.

Inflation-Hit Turkey Leads the Pack, Spain Scores the Highest in Western Europe

Turkey is the pronounced leader among individual countries included in the study. The nation, which sits on the border between two continents, has experienced high inflation in the last couple of years. The depreciation of the national fiat currency, the lira, has resulted in cryptocurrencies steadily gaining popularity. A fifth of the Turkish participants in the Statista poll declared they own crypto.

Elsewhere in Europe, Spain, which has been trying to overcome its own long list of economic and financial problems, is the Western nation with the highest number of cryptocurrency users at 11%. However, Eastern European countries and some in Asia have ranked higher than most developed nations. These include the Russian Federation (9%) as well as China and Indonesia (11% each).

Among the surveyed First World nations, Denmark has scored 8%, followed by Australia with 7%, the United Kingdom and the U.S. with 6% and 5% respectively, and France and Germany with 4%. Surprisingly, only 3% of the respondents from Japan, which is considered a leader in terms of crypto regulations and adoption, confirmed they have real experience with cryptocurrencies.

Do these results surprise you in any way? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

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