Ukraine Dominates Global Crypto-Activity Per Capita: A Historic Financial Shift

Ukraine just clinched the world's top spot for crypto-activity relative to population—outpacing every major economy.

Breaking Down the Numbers

Ukrainian adoption rates are blowing traditional finance models out of the water. Citizens are leveraging digital assets for everything from remittances to hedging against currency volatility—while Wall Street still debates ETF approvals.

The Ripple Effect

This isn’t just regional news; it’s a blueprint for hyper-financialization in emerging markets. Decentralized networks are bypassing legacy systems—no middlemen, no delays, just pure economic velocity.

A Cynical Take

Meanwhile, traditional banks are charging fees for wire transfers that take three business days. How’s that for innovation?

As a reminder, on 3 September 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the draft law on crypto assets in the first reading.

Moldova and Georgia are next in the ranking. Analysts attribute this dynamic to a combination of “economic instability, distrust of traditional financial institutions, and high technical literacy” in the region, which encourages the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of preserving value and for cross-border payments.

India was ranked first in the overall index, outperforming other countries in all four categories — centralized retail, centralized service, DeFi, and institutional activity.

Meanwhile, the United States came in second, showing high institutional activity amid the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs and greater regulatory certainty. The top three also include Pakistan, followed by Vietnam, Brazil, and Nigeria.

It should be noted that in 2024, Ukraine was sixth in the overall ranking in terms of crypto asset acceptance, behind India, Nigeria, Indonesia, the United States, and Vietnam.

A year earlier, in 2023, Ukraine was among the top 5 countries, following India, Nigeria, Vietnam, and the United States.

In addition, Asia Pacific (APAC) has become the fastest-growing region with a 69% year-on-year increase in online activity. The total transaction volume grew from $1.4 trillion to $2.36 trillion, driven mainly by India, Vietnam, and Pakistan.

Latin America added 63% and Sub-Saharan Africa 52%, confirming the growing role of cryptocurrencies in remittances and daily payments.

North America and Europe remain the leaders in absolute terms, with volumes of $2.2 trillion and $2.6 trillion, respectively. However, the growth rates are lower, at 49% and 42%. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the growth rate was only 33%, although it exceeded $0.5 trillion.

The report also highlighted a sharp increase in the use of stablecoins. Although USDT and USDC remain the leaders, EU regulation (MiCA) has stimulated the emergence of licensed Euro stablecoins such as EURC, which grew by 89% on average monthly. At the same time, PYUSD showed steady growth, reaching $3.95 billion in monthly turnover.

It is worth noting that, according to the Messari report, the stablecoin market has exceeded $250 billion. The main reason for this is the emergence of the first crypto law GENIUS aimed at regulating stablecoins.

Financial giants such as Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa are integrating payments in stablecoins into their services, while banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America have announced their intentions to launch their own products.

According to the report, from July 2024 to June 2025, more than $4.6 trillion in fiat investments were made in bitcoin, which is more than twice the volume of L1 tokens and almost four times that of stablecoins. The United States remains the largest fiat on-ramp region with a volume of more than $4.2 trillion.

Earlier, we wrote that on 2 September, almost $333 million was invested in US spot bitcoin ETFs.

Сообщение Ukraine Became the First in the World in Terms of Crypto-Activity in relation to the Population появились сначала на INCRYPTED.