41% of Vietnam Citizens Own Crypto as Country Leads Adoption

Statistics from both ChainAnalysis and Finder reveal Vietnam as a top country for crypto adoption. 41% of the country’s population claim to own some form of cryptocurrency, the highest percentage in any country, and ChainAnalysis has listed Vietnam as the number one country in its Global Crypto Index. 

Vietnam is Ahead of the Crypto Curve

Within ChainAnalysis’ 2021 global crypto report, the company crowned Vietnam as the number one country for adoption. The report aims to measure how far cryptocurrency is spreading throughout its citizens, ignoring all other areas in the industry such as mining power or legal status.

It considers just three metrics: on-chain cryptocurrency value received, on-chain retail value transferred, and peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange trade volume, and uses them to rank each country within its adoption index. Vietnam performed well in each of these metrics, leading to its perfect 1.00 score on the index. 

Following Vietnam is India, gaining a 0.37 on the index, and Pakistan, gaining 0.36. For context, the United States scored 0.22, putting it in 8th place, beaten by Venezuela in 7th place with a 0.25 score. 

Moving over to Finder’s data, published just several days beforehand, Vietnam came out on top for its amount of crypto owners, reaching 41%. Indonesia came in second place with 30%, tying with India, which also had 30%. The United States was ranked second-last with only 9% of its citizens owning crypto, and the United Kingdom coming in at the bottom with 8%. 

With Vietnam, India, and Indonesia all fairing well, this means Asia is leading the charge in crypto adoption among its people. However, bear in mind that Finder’s report only examined 27 countries, whereas ChainAnalysis examined 154. 

Vietnam’s Relationship with Digital Assets

Crypto trading has been a confusing topic in Vietnam as the government has given mixed messages about its usage. Cryptocurrency is considered illegal by the State Bank of Vietnam, however, the government has been making relatively pro-crypto moves as of recently.

For instance, the government has been paying attention to the increase in public interest and has recently launched a research group to explore regulations. It is unclear at the moment how harsh these will be, but much like the US’s upcoming regulations, this could crush the country’s ties to the industry and drive traders and owners away.  

The government is also planning to develop its own digital currency. This is similar to China’s digital yuan, which has been in the making for some time now. 

Vietnam could follow China’s footsteps and try to oust all other cryptocurrencies to make way for its own, or it could take the opposite route and legalize all crypto to help the market flourish. If it chooses the latter, its 2022 stats are highly likely to eclipse its current performance. 

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What do you think is driving adoption in Vietnam? Let us know in the comments below.