US Is Leading Decentralized Finance Adoption Globally

A new report suggests that — while it lags behind many countries on the overall adoption of cryptocurrencies — the United States is leading the way in decentralized finance (DeFi) adoption.

What Happened: According to a report shared with Benzinga by a blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, high-income populations that were already interested in cryptocurrencies are driving DeFi adoption.

The report ranked 154 nations by on-chain DeFi value received, on-chain retail DeFi value received, and on-chain number of DeFi deposits.

The first two indexes are also weighed in a way that compensates for each nation's wealth per resident.

The top five spots are occupied by the United States, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and the United Kingdom.

Why It Matters: The countries with the largest institutional and professional markets are the ones seeing the highest DeFi adoption, which is explained by this space remaining in the domain of those who are already familiar with crypto.

Chainalysis explains that DeFi adoption "has primarily been powered by experienced cryptocurrency traders and investors looking for new sources of alpha."

Read also: Worldwide Crypto Adoption Skyrockets Over 880% In One Year

This idea is confirmed by data showing that countries ranking high on the index usually have high raw volumes of cryptocurrency value moved.

The report also highlights that DeFi is significantly more common among bigger investors — which is proved by the big size of the transactions that make up a large share of DeFi activity.