About 10% of internet users worldwide own crypto. Portugal in the middle of the table – Cryptoactives
The number of crypto market investors has taken off in recent months across the world. According to a study by Finbold, about 10.2% of the global population uses some form of cryptocurrency.
Thailand leads the table, with twice the world average, as 20.1% of internet users in the country hold cryptocurrencies, followed by Nigeria and the Philippines (19.4% each). The USA, one of the largest mining regions in the world, since this activity was banned in China, occupies the 14th position on the list with 12.7%.
Portugal is in the middle of the table, minimized below the world average (9.7%), being preceded by Colombia (10.2%) and success Colombia by Canada (9.6%).
Developing countries lead the way
It is no coincidence that Thailand, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey and Argentina lead the ranking with the most cryptocurrency holders. The study concluded that it is in nations where the economy is more underdeveloped and inflation is more rampant, citizens, in order to escape the evaluation of the country’s currency, bet on cryptoassets.
In fact, in October last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had already warned that the advent of crypto-assets in the markets could harm the financial stability of local economies, undermining currency and capital controls.
The IMF clarified a situation that has been constant, especially in countries where inflation is rampant. For the institution, macroeconomic policies are the same in the efficiency of international payment systems, the main drivers of cryptocurrency adoption.
The entity led by Kristalina Georgieva compared this phenomenon to “dollarization”, which occurs when a foreign currency – usually the dollar – replaces or cohabits with a national currency, to combat the national currency.
“Factors such as low credibility of central banks and weak banking systems that can fuel ‘dollarization’ could contribute to the increasing use of cryptography,” the IMF adds.
For the international organization, virtual assets, as well as the “dollarization” of currency, the type of savings can be a financial plan ordered “to the implementation of monetary policy ordered by central banks concerned financial stability”, through the use of currency national.
The IMF also warned that this move could become a threat to tax policy, suggesting that virtual assets facilitate tax evasion. The institution further urged governments and central banks of developing nations to strengthen macroeconomic policies and consider the benefits of central banks’ digital currency formulation in response to the rise in cryptography.