India has the Highest Number of Crypto Owners, but Nigeria is Top for Percentage of Ownership

In 2022, cryptocurrency is expected to account for almost $35bn worth of transactions worldwide, up 6.7% from $32.5bn a year ago. More than half of that value will come from the United States as the leading crypto market globally. However, the US is not even in the top ten countries in terms of crypto ownership.

According to data presented by Trading Platforms, Nigeria leads in global crypto ownership, where 45% of the population, or almost every second person, uses or owns cryptocurrency.

Nigeria has Twice as Crypto Owners as UK or Japan

The Statista Global Consumer Survey showed consumers from countries in Africa, Asia, and South America were most likely to own or use cryptos this year but did not specify their exact use or purpose.

According to the survey, several other countries stand close to Nigeria as the leading country in using digital currencies on a day-to-day basis. Thailand ranked in second place, with 44% of the population that used or owned cryptos in the last two years. Turkey follows with 40%, and Argentina and United Arab Emirates round the top five list, with 35% and 34%, respectively.

The world`s leading crypto markets, the United States, Japan, and United Kingdom, are far behind Nigeria. The United States has three times more crypto owners than Nigeria. However, with 16% or six out of 100 respondents, the US comes in twenty-fifth place regarding crypto ownership.

Japan stands at forty-second place with 13% of respondents, considerably more than 4% a year ago. The United Kingdom ranked fifty-third, with 11% of crypto owners, up from 7% last year.

The Statista survey also showed that, with close to 10 million people using digital currencies in 2022, Nigeria has twice as crypto users as Japan or UK, which hit 4.2 million and 3 million users this year.

India Hit 134 million Crypto Users, but the US to Generate 53% of Total Transaction Value

According to Statista data, India has the highest number of cryptocurrency users globally, 134 million as of this year, or nearly five times more than the US. The United States follows, with 27.7 million users.

However, the US crypto market is expected to account for more than half of global crypto transaction value this year, or $18.5bn. India will see the second-largest transaction value of $2.4bn in 2022. Japan, the United Kingdom, and South Korea follow, with $1.7bn, $1.2bn, and $1bn, respectively.

Statista expects the adoption of cryptocurrencies to continue growing on a global scale. Recent estimates show 257.2 million crypto users worldwide, representing 3.2% of the world’s population. In 2023, this figure is expected to grow to 293.6 million.