Surprising Poll Across 18 Countries Shows Crypto Just Getting Started

Turks are the most likely people to own cryptocurrency among selected countries in a new poll, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey.

The poll, which features 1,000 respondents in each of the surveyed countries, indicates 20% of people in Turkey have used or owned cryptocurrencies. That was followed closely by 18% in Brazil and Colombia, and 16% in Argentina and South Africa.

In China, which has banned crypto exchanges and ICOs, 11% say they’ve used crypto. But in Japan, where the government is much more crypto friendly, only 3% of respondents say they have experience with crypto.

In the US, just 5% of respondents say they’ve ever bought or used crypto assets.

The top-adopting countries have been dealing with both economic problems and, in some cases, authoritarian governments that have likely fueled interest in alternative currencies.  

Turkey’s economy has been plagued by a currency and debt crisis since mid-2018, with the Turkish lira dropping 37% in value since the beginning of that year and unemployment rising to a decade-long high of 14.7%.  

Brazil has had to reckon with its own economic issues, including seeing inflation levels in April hit their highest levels in the past four years.

Colombia has seen an influx of more than one million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, as well as some indications that the government could be adopting a more friendly stance on crypto.

Absent from the list are countries such as Nigeria and Venezuela where significant interest in cryptocurrencies is evidenced by searches on Google and trading volumes on peer-to-peer crypto platform LocalBitcoins.