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Crypto Ownership & Interest by Country: A Report by Investing in the Web

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Toni Nasr, CFA, FRM
Fintech Analyst
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Franklin Silva
Co-Founder & Fintech Analyst
Fact checked by: Franklin SilvaUpdated on May 20, 2025

Over the last decade, cryptocurrencies have grown exponentially from a niche experiment to a global phenomenon that has captured the attention of mainstream investors. 

In this report, we aim to analyse cryptocurrency ownership by country, which refers to individuals or entities that hold and possess cryptocurrencies in their digital wallets or accounts. 

While no official source outlines these statistics, we have gathered data from reputable sources to estimate them. We examined two different studies, TripleA and GWI, which provide different estimates of cryptocurrency ownership by country.

We also checked the search volume on Google for certain keywords in those countries to further validate their findings.

Some of the key findings of this report include:

  • India, China, and the United States are the top 3 countries with crypto ownership;
  • No official numbers on crypto ownership by country; however, estimations indicate a higher rate of cryptocurrency ownership in countries with young, tech-savvy populations.
  • Countries undergoing high inflation or financial crises have higher crypto ownership rates, such as Turkey and Argentina, than other countries.
  • Institutional investors are increasingly investing in cryptocurrencies, as evidenced by the recent launch of several cryptocurrency-focused ETFs and mutual funds.

Crypto Ownership by Country according to TripleA

Rank Country Population % of Population Owning Crypto Number of Crypto Ownership
1 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India 1,428,627,663 6.55% 93,537,015
2 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China 1,425,671,352 4.15% 59,134,683
3 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States 339,996,563 15.56% 52,888,108
4 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 216,422,446 11.99% 25,955,176
5 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam 98,858,950 21.19% 20,945,706
6 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan 240,485,658 6.60% 15,879,216
7 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippines 117,337,368 13.43% 15,761,549
8 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria 223,804,632 5.93% 13,261,259
9 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia 277,534,122 4.40% 12,205,132
10 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 89,172,767 13.46% 12,000,000

Source: TripleA Global Crypto Ownership data, May 2025

According to this study, the global crypto ownership rates are estimated to be around 4.2%, encompassing more than 420 million crypto users worldwide.

Top countries with significant crypto ownership include India, China, and the United States as of 2024. TripleAโ€™s Global Crypto Ownership study employs a methodology that includes Country Weighted Scoring, Global Weighted Scoring, Outlier Research, and Primary Data Collection. These metrics are utilised to comprehensively understand crypto ownership trends, drawing from various data sources. It should be noted that some of the data used in the study are sourced from third-party providers and normalised to reach the final estimations.

After checking the studyโ€™s findings, concerns arise regarding the reliability of estimations for specific countries. Surprisingly, European countries like the Netherlands and Portugal, known for their vibrant crypto communities, are absent from the top 50 list despite their substantial crypto adoption rates reported in other studies. Conversely, some countries with lower internet penetration rates are included in the top 50 list, surpassing well-developed nations with higher crypto adoption and transaction usage.

Crypto Ownership by Country according to GWI

Rank Country % Crypto Ownership of Internet Users Ownership*
1 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช United Arab Emirates 27.18% 2,900,000
2 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam 20.87% 20,900,000
3 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States 15.40% 52,900,000
4 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippines 13.72% 15,800,000
5 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 13.24% 12,000,000
6 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 12.63% 4,200,000
7 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 12.29% 26,000,000
8 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore 11.48% 664,600
9 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuela 10.50% 3,000,000
10 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine 10.30% 3,900,000

*Estimated by Investing in the Web based on the percentage crypto ownership of GWI, internet penetration rate and population between 15 and 64 as reported by the World Bank.
Source: GWI Research

Both Triple Aโ€™s study and GWIโ€™s research highlight that the United States, Vietnam, and Brazil now rank among the countries with the largest number of crypto owners globally. Notably, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the highest percentage of crypto ownership among internet users, with 27.18% of its online population holding cryptocurrency, according to GWIโ€™s latest findings.

GWIโ€™s research on crypto ownership is based on a methodology involving online questionnaires as part of their Core data set, reaching over 700,000 internet users annually. The figures presented in this report refer specifically to the online population of each market rather than the total national population.

While GWIโ€™s research provides valuable insights into crypto ownership trends across digital populations, it is important to consider the limitations of this methodology. Since the data is drawn from internet users, it may underrepresent or miss crypto adoption trends among offline individuals or certain age groups. Furthermore, survey-based methods inherently carry potential biases and sampling exclusions. Nonetheless, this data offers a strong foundation for understanding broader patterns in global crypto adoption.

Crypto Interest by Country

To gain insights into the crypto industryโ€™s interest, we examined the average monthly search volume for specific keywords, including โ€œBitcoin,โ€ โ€œBitcoin Price,โ€ โ€œCryptocurrency,โ€ and โ€œCrypto Wallet.โ€ These keywords reflect the level of interest in cryptocurrencies within a country and can indicate cryptocurrency ownership, although it is not the sole determining factor. We compiled in the below table the data for the top 50 countries mentioned in both studies.

Country Keyword Search (Monthly Volume)
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States 7.75M
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 2.45M
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India 1.67M
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom 1.63M
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 1.27M
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkey 1.19M
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 1.02M
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain 827k
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan 819k
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 791k
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands 786k
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 678k
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy 671k
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Poland 607k
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria 419k
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea 275k
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico 272k
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland 245k
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic 217k
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden 212k
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium 192k
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia 172k
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Ireland 161k
๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 149k
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Malaysia 146k
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal 143k
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina 137k
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand 137k
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam 125k
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippines 124k
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Greece 124k
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia 121k
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore 118k
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania 117k
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan 109k
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria 104k
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark 87k
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand 86k
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช United Arab Emirates 81k
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 79k
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Hong Kong 71k
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israel 61k
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia 59k
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 54k
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine 51k
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya 47k
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Peru 47k
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Taiwan 38k
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chile 38k
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 38k
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco 36k
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ Bangladesh 36k
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuela 34k
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt 28k
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana 23k
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 21k
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Nepal 19k
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador 14k
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 12k
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopia 9k
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania 8k
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Myanmar 7k
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ Cambodia 7k
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ DR Congo 2k
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique 1k

Source: Ahrefs

Interestingly, the US and India are still among the top 3 countries. Moreover, several other countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Turkey, and Canada, exhibited remarkably high monthly search volumes, each surpassing 1 million searches on those keywords per month. It is also important to note that China was not included in this study.

Factors Influencing Crypto Ownership

The adoption of cryptocurrencies is increasing among countries, and more people are now owning them. However, several factors influence this trend. Here is a brief analysis of these factors:

  • Economic Factors: Economic conditions play a significant role in influencing crypto ownership by country. In regions facing economic instability or currency devaluation, individuals and businesses may turn to cryptocurrencies as an alternative store of value or investment option. Additionally, countries with limited access to traditional financial services may embrace cryptocurrencies for their accessibility and borderless nature.
  • Regulatory Environment: The regulatory landscape can heavily impact crypto ownership trends. Countries with clear and favorable cryptocurrency regulations tend to foster a more friendly environment for adoption. On the contrary, stringent or uncertain regulations may deter potential crypto users due to concerns about legality and security.
  • Technological Infrastructure: Countries with widespread internet access and advanced digital payment systems are more likely to see higher levels of crypto adoption. 
  • Socio-Cultural Factors: Cultural attitudes towards finance, technology, and innovation can influence the acceptance and adoption of cryptocurrencies. Additionally, awareness and education about blockchain and digital assets within a society can contribute to the interest in and understanding of cryptocurrencies.

These are just some of the factors that affect the adoption of cryptocurrencies. The importance of each factor may vary depending on the country and the individual.

Conclusion

In conclusion, understanding crypto ownership trends has major implications for the cryptocurrency market. Identifying regions with high crypto ownership rates can help businesses and investors identify potential growth markets and tailor their strategies accordingly. 

Although estimating crypto ownership can be difficult due to the decentralized and anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies, the studies and analysis in this report have revealed intriguing insights into the global crypto landscape. Certain countries have emerged as leaders in crypto ownership, such as India. China and the United States. Additionally, Turkey and Brazil were mentioned in several studies as being among the top countries with crypto ownership, while others exhibit a significant interest in cryptocurrencies, indicating the potential for further adoption and expanded ownership.

Disclosure: This report offers an extensive analysis of cryptocurrency ownership on a global scale, taking into account various factors and estimations. It is important to acknowledge that precise figures for the value of cryptocurrency ownership by country cannot be accurately determined due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency wallet addresses are not assigned based on geographical locations, making it challenging to derive country-specific ownership values. Nonetheless, by examining available data and trends, we can gain valuable insights into the overall landscape of cryptocurrency ownership worldwide.

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About the author
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Toni Nasr, CFA, FRM
Fintech Analyst

Toni is a Fintech Analyst with over 8 years of experience in the financial industry where he worked as a financial control analyst at a regional bank and later conducted independent investment research analysis.

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