Citizens in countries with heavily devalued currencies “need to have crypto.” In the developed world, it’s often just “nice to have.”
Last year, cryptocurrencies reached a “tipping point,” according to Gemini’s 2022 Global State of Crypto report, “evolving from what many considered a niche investment into an established asset class.” According to the report, 41% of crypto owners surveyed globally purchased crypto for the first time in 2021, including more than half of crypto owners in Brazil at 51%, Hong Kong at 51% and India at 54%.The study, based on a survey of 30,000 adults in 20 countries over six continents, also made a strong case that inflation and currency devaluation are powerful drivers of crypto adoption, especially in emerging market (EM) countries:“Respondents in countries that have experienced 50% or more devaluation of their currency against the USD over the last 10 years were more than 5 times as likely to say they plan to purchase crypto in the coming year than those in countries that have experienced less than 50% currency devaluation.”Brazil’s currency, the real, experienced a 218% devaluation — suggesting high inflation — against the United States dollar between 2011 and 2021, and 45% of Brazilians surveyed by Gemini said they planned to purchase crypto in the coming year. South Africa’s currency, the rand, recorded a 103% devaluation in the past decade — second only to Brazil among the 20 countries in the survey — and 32% of South Africans are expected to be crypto owners in the next year.
