Today, blockchain data platform Chainalysis releases its full 2021 Geography of Crypto Report, which includes data on North America, Europe, Eastern Asia, LatAm, and the Middle East and focuses on geographic trends in cryptocurrency adoption, usage, and regulation. 

The report digs into cryptocurrency activity by region, differences in adoption patterns between low and high-income countries, and regional patterns in cryptocurrency-related crime.

Highlights are summarised below.  Please find linked HERE a copy of the report, and linked here is the supporting blog 

2021 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report highlights:

Europe -Central, Northern, and Western (P.47): 

• Central, Northern, & Western Europe (CNWE) has the biggest cryptocurrency economy in the world, receiving over $1 trillion worth of cryptocurrency over the last year, representing 25% of global activity
• CNWE transaction volume grew significantly across virtually all cryptocurrencies and service types, but especially on DeFi protocols. 
• The region has also become a crypto hub, becoming the biggest crypto trading partner for every other region studied, sending at least 25% of all value received by other regions, including 34% of value received by North America 
• This was largely driven by a significant increase in institutional transactions which grew from $1.4 billion in July 2020 to $46.3 billion in June 2021

UK (P.55): 

• The UK has driven crypto activity in Europe, with $170 billion value received, significantly more than France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland which make up the rest of the top 5. Of that $170bn, 49% is from value sent to DeFi protocols. 
• Bitcoin makes up 27% of the UK’s transaction value while Ethereum and wETH make up 40% 

North America (P.24): 

• North America is the second-largest cryptocurrency economy in the world, having received over $750 billion in cryptocurrency between July 2021 and June 2020, accounting for 18.4% of global activity. The United States accounts for the majority of this activity. 
• More Americans are devoting a higher share of their purchasing power to cryptocurrency than in nearly every other country.
• DeFi drove growth in the last year: North America’s monthly cryptocurrency transaction volume grew significantly, rising from $14.4 billion in July 2020 to a high of $164 billion in May 2021 --an increase of over 1,000%-- before a slight dip in June. Much of this growth was driven by the growing popularity of DeFi. 

• Several DeFi platforms now count among the most popular services overall by North American crypto users, with Uniswap the number one position in terms of transaction. 
• North America is the biggest target for ransomware attackers: North American users sent $131 million worth of cryptocurrency to ransomware attackers between July 2020 and June 2021, more than double that of Western Europe, which sent the second most.