More than half of cryptocurrency owners in Brazil (51%), Hong Kong (51%) and India (54%) are first-timers who started investing in digital assets in 2021, a new research by Gemini Trust Company, LLC, a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, has shown.
In contrast, nearly half of all crypto owners in the United States (44%), Latin America (46%) and the Asia Pacific (45%) first bought crypto in 2021.
These are some of the major findings of Gemini’s newly-released Global State of Crypto Report, the first from the exchange, which said 2021 was a breakout year for cryptocurrency adoption.
Additionally, the report found that in Europe, two in five (40%) of those who own digital assets started investing in them in 2021. However, on a global scale, the research found that 41% of crypto owners started purchasing crypto for the first time last year.
The study, which was conducted on behalf of Gemini by Data Driven Consulting Group, surveyed nearly 30,000 adults across 20 countries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
Developing Nations and the Crypto Gender Gap
The report observes that the global crypto gender gap might be narrowing down with women from developing nations leading the way.
According to the report, women represent at least half of crypto owners in Israel (51%), Indonesia (51%) and Nigeria (50%). On the contrary, only a third of current crypto owners in developed countries and regions are women: United States (32%), Europe (33%) and Australia (27%).
“Among the crypto curious who plan to purchase crypto for the first time in the next year, 47% were women globally,” the study said.
Crypto’s Drivers & Barriers
Moreover, the inaugural Gemini report found that inflation is a primary driver for cryptocurrency adoption. The study notes that the over 200% devaluation of the Brazilian real is likely accountable for 41% of its respondents owning cryptocurrencies. In the US, two in five (40%) crypto owners see crypto as a hedge against inflation, the study added.
“Respondents in countries that have experienced 50% or more devaluation of their currency against the US dollar over the last 10 years were more than 5 times as likely to say they plan to purchase crypto in the coming year than those in countries that have experienced less than 50% currency devaluation, including South Africa (32%), Mexico (32%), India (40%) and Brazil (45%),” Gemini wrote in the report.
Regulation and lack of education are major barriers to cryptocurrency adoption around the world, the study also observed.
“Among non-owners [of cryptocurrencies], 39% in Asia Pacific, 37% in Latin America and 36% in Europe say there is legal uncertainty around cryptocurrency. In addition, for 30% of respondents in the Middle East, 24% in Asia Pacific and 23% in Latin America, the tax complexities of owning cryptocurrency have kept them from investing in crypto,” the report explained.
More than half of respondents in Latin America (51%) and Africa (56%) said that educational resources would make them more comfortable purchasing cryptocurrency, the report noted, adding that 44% in the Asia Pacific and 42% of those in the United States said the same.
Growing Crypto
Despite occasional reports of hackings and thefts, including the recent $615 million crypto heist on the Ronin Network, and regular government crackdowns on cryptocurrencies, the digital assets continue to see a rise in their adoption.
In fact, Citi, one of the largest financial services providers in the world, believes the economy around Metaverse has the potential to hit $13 trillion by 2030.
Etherscan, a block explorer and analytics platform for Ethereum , reported last week that the crypto community has now staked more than 11 million Ether under the deposit contract of Ethereum 2.0. This is said to be the highest level on record.
