Western Europe world’s largest crypto economy by virtue of DeFi

After China’s latest crackdown on digital currency activities, and according to new data from blockchain labs, China’s growth in crypto trading by volume fell deeply after last week’s restrictions.
Most Western European countries have turned into the world’s largest crypto economy, receiving USD 1 trillion over the last year, or 25% of all global crypto activity.
Unlike North America, which accounts for about 20% of worldwide crypto trading and has remained relatively flat by comparison, Europe’s higher growth seems linked to a wave of institutional investors seeking exposure to the crypto space, especially in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols.
Global crypto transaction volume in North America and a portion of Europe surpassed East Asia though East Asia in the past had drawn the majority of its volume from China.
Crypto trading in East Asia considerably grew but at a much lower rate than other regions. During the period from January 2020 to July 2021, growth slid from 31% to 14%, partly due to other countries outpacing the East Asia market.
Regional experts and web traffic via IP addresses show findings that serve as a best estimate currently available for measuring cryptocurrency adoption by geography.
While East Asia’s decline in crypto trading can be attributed to China’s past regulatory crackdowns – particularly the crypto mining ban in May – the significant surge in parts of Europe corresponds with the rise in crypto investment across the world over the last year.