Decentralized Finance: Which Countries Top The List of 2021 Global DeFi Adoption Index?
The United States tops the list of Global DeFi Adoption Index released by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.
The top 10 countries on the list include Vietnam, Thailand, China, United Kingdom, India, Netherlands, Canada, Ukraine, and Poland.
DeFi, short for ‘Decentralized Finance,’ refers to decentralized cryptocurrency platforms that do not rely on central financial intermediaries.
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“DeFi platforms are protocols built on top of smart contract-enriched blockchain-primarily the Ethereum network — and can fulfill specific financial functions determined by the smart contracts’ underlying code,” Chainalysis explained in the report.
The DeFi space has witnessed unprecedented growth over the last 18 months. The market capitalization of DeFi, according to CoinMarketCap, stands at $125 billion, with a trading volume of $18 billion in the last 24 hours.
The Three Metrics
154 countries were part of the DeFi Adoption Index and ranked according to three metrics:
Component 1: On-chain cryptocurrency value received by DeFi platforms weighted by PPP per capita.
Component 2: Total retail value received by DeFi platforms.
Component 3: Individual deposits to DeFi platforms.
The Chainalysis’ Global DeFi Adoption Index ranks countries based on their grassroots DeFi adoption. What stands out, according to the report, is that many of the countries ranking highest in grassroots DeFi adoption are those with high raw volumes of cryptocurrency value moved, both currently and historically. These tend to be middle to high-income countries or countries with already-developed cryptocurrency markets, and in particular strong professional and institutional markets.
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“Large institutional transactions, meaning those above $10 million in USD, accounted for over 60% of DeFi transactions in Q2 2021, compared to under 50% for all cryptocurrency transactions,” the data highlighted.
The Last Word
The Global DeFi Adoption Index underlines that DeFi adoption is powered by experienced cryptocurrency traders and investors looking for new sources of alphase in innovative new platforms. It explains why more DeFi adoption can be seen in high-income countries with established crypto user bases.
It is to be seen if DeFi adoption will follow the same pattern as cryptocurrency services that preceded it, with wider acceptability as users realize its “tangible benefits beyond speculation and investment.”
