There was a time when China was considered to be home to the world’s largest number of cryptocurrency traders and miners, things have changed since. China’s laws to curb the industry, alongside the increasing popularity of the market, have caused the Asian country to lose the top rank.
DataLight Study
Showcases Top 20 Countries by Trader Numbers
Now, according to a recent research effort carried out by DataLight, the United States represents the world’s new crypto leader in terms of its number of traders. To put things better into perspective, more than 22 million digital currency exchange users come from the US, followed by 6 million from Japan, and 5 million from South Korea. Some of the other countries included in the top ranks are the UK, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Vietnam, Turkey, and Canada. Unsurprisingly, China is not on the list, despite the fact that several local, yet heavily-regulated exchanges still operate in the region. It is important to point out the fact that as part of this research, the frequency of trading has not been taken into account. This data would have been useful to get a better idea of whether these people are casual or heavy traders.
The research study also allows us to get a better idea about
markets with untapped potential. DataLight has shown that there are several
demographics with little to no interest whatsoever in this emerging economy.
Regions such as Central Africa, Greenland, alongside several Asian countries
saw extremely-low, and even non-existent trading numbers.
Despite this, total numbers showcase that at this time,
there are roughly 68 million cryptocurrency traders throughout the world. Yet,
the total number of people who hold cryptocurrencies remains a mystery. Access
to data like this is essential to gauging how long the traditional fiat-based
system will stick around, and whether cryptocurrencies can serve as an optimal
alternative to financial market.
A Word about Turkey
An interesting case study as that of Turkey, where out of 80
million people, 2.4 million (3% of the population) engage in cryptocurrency
trading. It seems that here, the trading numbers are heavily influenced by the
well-being of the Turkish Lira, as pointed out by the DataLight report: “Turkey for example, has in the last year
seen wild fluctuations in the value of the Turkish Lira, as turbulent political
conditions rock the country. Interestingly, on one day in August 2018, a 10%
drop in the value of the Lira was accompanied by a marked spike in volumes on
bitcoin exchange LocalBitcoins.”
Things are still
rocky in the United States
Things are even more confusing in the United States, despite
its soaring trading numbers. With this in mind, the US has been dealing with
confusion regarding which regulator holds authority over the market, and how
citizens should file crypto-related taxes. In the past, the Internal Revenue
Service has caused controversy, after asking crypto traders to file their
taxes, yet failing to provide an appropriate guideline.
It is often believed that regulations and cryptocurrencies don’t go very well together, yet finding middle ground may be the right approach towards encouraging a further rise in adoption numbers and trading volumes. Based on this, the current regulatory situation lacks standardization, which in turn leads to market confusion and uncertainty. We may have the technology, yet the will of the people is mandatory towards improving the worldwide financial system.
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