Nigeria and Turkey are the top countries by crypto ownership with 47% the population using or owning a cryptocurrency in 2023. Romania has an adoption of 14%, better than the UK and comparable with the U.S. – according to Statista.

Consumers from countries in Africa, Asia, and South America were most likely to be an owner of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in 2023. This conclusion can be reached after combining 55 different surveys from the Statista Global Consumer Survey over the course of that year.

Nearly one out of three respondents to Statista’s survey in Nigeria, for instance, mentioned they either owned or use a digital coin, as opposed to six out of 100 respondents in the United States. This is a significant change from a list that looks at the Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume in 44 countries: There, the United States and Russia were said to have traded the highest amounts of this particular virtual coin. Nevertheless, African and Latin American countries are noticeable entries in that list too.

Daily use, or an investment tool?

The survey asked whether consumers either owned or used cryptocurrencies but does not specify their exact use or purpose. Some countries, however, are more likely to use digital currencies on a day-to-day basis. Nigeria increasingly uses mobile money operations to either pay in stores or to send money to family and friends. Polish consumers could buy several types of products with a cryptocurrency in 2019. Opposed to this is the country of Vietnam: Here, the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method is forbidden. Owning some form of cryptocurrency in Vietnam as an investment is allowed, however.

Which countries are more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies?

Professional investors looking for a cryptocurrency-themed ETF were more often found in Europe than in the United or China, according to a survey in early 2020. Most of the largest crypto hedge fund managers with a location in Europe in 2020, were either from the United Kingdom or Switzerland – the country with the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate in Europe according to Statista’s Global Consumer Survey. Whether this had changed by 2021 was not yet clear.

Statista data showed that Western countries have crypto adoption rates at least two times lower than countries in Asia and Latin America. For example, around 11% of the population in the France, Italy and Sweden, 12% in the UK and Germany and 16% in the US uses or owns cryptocurrencies, ranking behind countries like Indonesia (29%), Brazil (28%), Argentina (26%), India (27%) and Malaysia (23%)

Statistics show China and Japan have the smallest share of crypto owners in their population among all surveyed countries.

There are also at least five countries with a decrease in cryptocurrency ownership in 2023 compared to 2022. The largest decline was recorded by Japan, with 6% of the country’s population now using cryptocurrencies, down from 13% a year ago year.

Share of respondents who indicated they either owned or used cryptocurrencies in 56 countries and territories worldwide from 2019 to 2023