Singapore Dominates Bybit’s Crypto Adoption Index, Leaving US in Second Place

Singapore just snatched the crown in Bybit's global crypto adoption rankings—with the United States trailing behind in second. The city-state's regulatory clarity and institutional embrace are pulling ahead in the digital-asset race.

Why Singapore's Winning

It's not just about favorable rules. Singapore built a framework that actually works—clear licensing, pro-innovation policies, and a financial authority that gets it. While others debate, Singapore executes. That's how you climb to the top spot.

The US Takes Silver

America lands at number two. Strong retail interest and deep institutional pockets keep it in the game, but regulatory fragmentation and political theater hold it back. The infrastructure's there—the coherence isn't.

What the Rankings Reveal

Adoption isn't just trading volume. It's infrastructure, regulatory maturity, and public engagement. Top-ranked nations check all three boxes. The index cuts through the noise—showing who's building and who's just talking.

The Bottom Line

Forget the hype. Real adoption needs real rules. Singapore gets it, the US is figuring it out, and the rest are playing catch-up. In crypto, as in traditional finance, the winners write the rules—everyone else just follows, or pays the spread.

Singapore ranks higher than America in crypto adoption index report

According to the crypto exchange’s indexing, Singapore topped the charts with a score of 7.5, leading in several dimensions of adoption. The country achieved perfect scores in user penetration (1.00) and high cultural visibility (0.96), which topped global averages of the bottom half of the top ten ranking countries by adoption index. 

Over 11% of the population reportedly holds cryptocurrency because Singapore’s leadership, institutional readiness, and a digital finance-embracing culture have created a crypto-friendly environment for investments.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) changed its tone towards cryptocurrency regulation earlier this year with a clear licensing framework working in tandem with innovation-friendly policies.

In April 2022, Singapore enacted the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA), a comprehensive piece of legislation meant to streamline and strengthen MAS’s oversight of the financial sector.

In June this year, several provisions of the FSMA came into effect, including a licensing regime for digital token service providers (DTSPs) operating in or from Singapore while serving overseas markets.

The legislation goes beyond previous frameworks such as the Payment Services Act, which had exclusively governed services provided to domestic customers. DTSPs with a substantial presence in Singapore are now required to apply for licenses and comply with anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations.

However, MAS reiterated in a May consultation response that it is “unlikely to approve any application by an entity to provide DT services from Singapore to only overseas persons, given the higher inherent ML/TF risks and the limited supervisory oversight MAS can exercise over such entities.”

The clarification was issued with four weeks’ notice before the June 30 commencement.

Stablecoins in play for global crypto adoption

Bybit’s report also mentioned the global growth of the stablecoin market volumes worldwide, particularly those pegged to non-US currencies. US dollar-based stablecoins, Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), dominate savings and hedging, but stablecoins pegged to other currencies are being used for payments and commerce.

Jesse Pollak, head developer of Coinbase’s Base blockchain, called on developers worldwide to create alternatives to dollar-pegged tokens.

“If you look at the world today, something like 60% of the world’s currency reserve is dollars, but then you have tens of other critical currencies, whether it’s the euro, or the yen, or even currencies like the Nigerian naira, that are huge parts of the global economy. But right now, they’re missing in the crypto economy,” Pollak surmised.

According to an October Cryptopolitan report, Director for International Development at the A7A5 project, Oleg Ogienko, said fiat-backed cryptocurrencies not denominated in US dollars could capture roughly 20% of the global stablecoin market by 2028. 

“One of the stable trends in the crypto industry is the active development of non-dollar stablecoins. Their growth reflects the growing demand for digital assets backed by national currencies, which contributes to market diversification,” Ogienko told Russian news outlet RBC.

Alongside Singapore’s index news, Lithuania was a surprise entry into the top index ranking with a score of 6.3 overall after a strong performance in cultural readiness and institutional penetration. Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates also ranked in the top five, while Vietnam and Hong Kong entered the top ten.

Chainalysis and TRM Labs’ late October report listed India, the United States, and Pakistan as leading countries in rising adoption rates, with special mentions of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia when adjusting for population size.

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