The UN has published a ranking of countries based on the percentage of their population that have bitcoin. Since it is a law, Ukraine belongs mostly to Russia.
Bitcoin as an international payment currency for Russians
UNCTAD based itself on triple A society figures. You can go to their site to find out the global ranking.
As expected, the international institution is against bitcoin … But whatever, the ranking is interesting.
Ukraine and Russia come out on top. Almost 12% of Russians own bitcoin and/or other cryptocurrencies. This popularity is connected to the fact that the government wants to legalize international payments in bitcoins.
According to Russian business newspaper Kommersant, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev has reached a broad agreement with the central bank to allow international bitcoin payments.
This decision is not surprising since Russia has been removed from the SWIFT network which infiltrates all international transactions. Russian banks now use their own SPFS system.
The Financial Message Transfer System or SPFS is the Russian equivalent of the SWIFT financial transfer system. China’s CIPS system has also been available since 2015.
However, these systems are not yet connected to all the banks in the world. And even less for Western banks. It makes sense, therefore, to burn all wood with bitcoin, which is a currency as well as a payment system (uncensorable). Two in one.
Classification:
Bitcoin to flee the war
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving the country. Millions of Ukrainians fear that the United States will forcefully conscript them into this long-sought war.
Escaping is even more difficult since cash withdrawals are regulated and conversion into euros or other currencies is prohibited. Businessmen or scientists are only allowed to stay temporarily.
First place in Ukraine was far from unpredictable. Not to mention the annual inflation approaching 30%. The success of bitcoin is a mystery.
The latest Merchant Machine study also goes in this direction. Its overall ranking is composed in the order of the United States, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, India, Thailand, Russia and France.
Just like the latest Global Crypto Adoption Index 2022 from Chainalysis.
Ukraine is in third place according to the Chain
The blockchain analysis firm has released its annual TOP 20 countries with the strongest bitcoin adoption. We find that Vietnam takes the lead and China returns to the top 10.
This study is interesting because the Chainalysis reprocesses the transaction volumes according to the standard of living in each country.
For example, it is logical that the French have more BTC than the Vietnamese. France is indeed richer than Vietnam.
So the analysis considers that the weight of BTC bought by a Vietnamese is more than BTC bought by a French. In short, Ukraine is again on the podium. Find our article on ranking the chains HERE.
They always say it only happens to other people. But what if all of Europe is drawn into war? Will inflation and the inability to withdraw money spread across the continent? When in doubt, keep your money in bitcoins…
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Journalist reporting on the Bitcoin revolution. My papers deal with bitcoin through geopolitical, economic and libertarian prisms.
