What the numbers say: Recent research from GWI has shown that Turkey is the country with the
highest growth rate in crypto ownership, with a 27.1% increase from July-September 2021 to the same period of 2022. In the top five, Turkey was followed by Argentina, the Philippines, Thailand, and Brazil. The global
average in crypto ownership growth was 11.9%. GWI has pointed out that the study was conducted with individuals aged between 16 and 64.
Relevance: The higher growth rates were mainly attributed to skyrocketing inflation in certain countries last year. The top two countries, Turkey and Argentina, were also among the top 10 countries with the highest annual inflation rates in 2022. Argentina closed last year with a whopping 94.8% consumer price index (CPI) as the second country of the top 10, while inflation increased by 72.3% YoY in Turkey within the same year, making the country sit in third place.
Why it matters: The results demonstrate that people in the countries witnessing a significant economic downturn embarked on a quest for alternative financial instruments to the traditional ones in 2022. Argentinian and Turkish people showed this tendency with increased crypto adoption. Zimbabwe, the country with the highest inflation rate last year, also recently had to gravitate toward tokenized assets as an alternative to fight hyperinflation and economic volatility. In April, the southern African country's central bank announced that it would issue a gold-backed digital currency to serve as legal tender in the country.
Brands that should care: The increased crypto ownership in these countries also caused crypto exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and Gate.io, to see a strong rise in trading volumes. In response, many platforms expanded their services and deepened their presence in the countries where the growth was highest, such as Turkey and Argentina. Most recently, OKX announced plans to open an office in Turkey in the upcoming months, while Gate.io unveiled GateTR, and Binance launched its first customer service center in the country last year. The largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, recently made a similar move for Argentina, expanding in the country with a direct fiat-to-crypto service.