Crypto Thrives in Vietnam With 16.6M Holders (Report)
The Vietnam Crypto Market Report 2022 revealed that 16.6 million Vietnamese own digital currencies, with Bitcoin being the most popular asset.
Another study conducted by Chainalysis ranked the Asian country as the world leader in cryptocurrency adoption with a score of 1,000.
Very close to the top
The study, reported estimated by a local media outlet that 16.6 million Vietnamese bought cryptocurrencies (about 17% of the country’s population). 31% of them have invested in Bitcoin, making it the most popular digital asset.
The research revealed that Thailand is the only country with more HODLers than Vietnam in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Apart from a significant number of crypto investors, Vietnam also hosts several blockchain projects mostly focused on GameFi (Game Finance), NFTs or Web3.
Vietnamese have founded seven of the world’s top 200 blockchain organizations, including Axie Infinity, Coin98, and Kyber Network, to name a few. Axie Infinity is among the most popular blockchain-based games, peaking at nearly three million users in early 2022. The user base fell below one million in the following months before peaking again in early 2023.
The game suffered a major setback in March last year after North Korean hacking collective – the Lazarus Group – dehydrated Over $600 million worth of digital currencies from Ronin Network – an Ethereum-connected sidechain powering Axie Infinity. The project improved its security policy and resumed operations three months later.
A global market leader according to Chainalysis
The 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index, a study conducted by Chainalysis, sketched Vietnam is the world leader in cryptocurrency adoption, achieving a score of 1,000. The platform claimed that one reason for this success could be the high interest in blockchain-based games in the region. It is worth noting that Vietnam also ranked first in the 2021 survey.
The Philippines — another Southeast Asia country — came in second with 0.753, while war-torn Ukraine was third with 0.694.
Most of the nations in the top 20 list included lower-middle-income economies such as Nigeria and Indonesia, and upper-middle-income economies (Argentina, Brazil, Turkey).
Two of the world’s supereconomies – the United States of America and the United Kingdom – also found their place, finishing 5th and 17th respectively.
