The crypto-currency economy in Central, Northern and Western Europe (CNWE) has become the second largest in the world, just behind North America. Between July 2023 and June 2024, the region received $987.25 billion, representing 21.7% of global transaction volume.
Regional growth
Most CNWE countries saw an increase in activity, with average annual growth of 44%. The UK remains the regional leader in digital assets, with $217 billion received.
Stablecoins among the strongest gains
For transactions under $1 million, Bitcoin (BTC) recorded impressive growth of almost 75%, accounting for around a fifth of the total value received in the region. Stablecoins, meanwhile, saw a volume increase 2.5 times greater than that of North America for small transactions. In total, stablecoins account for almost half of all crypto-currency inflows in the CNWE at $422.3 billion.
Merchant Services and Tokenization
Market services in the UK grew by 58.4% year-on-year. Stablecoins clearly dominate this sector, with a quarterly market share of between 60% and 80%. In addition, tokenization of real-world assets, such as real estate and intellectual property, is growing in Northern and Eastern Europe.
DeFi activity and Regulations
DeFi (decentralized finance) activity in the CNWE is in line with the global average, recording annual growth of $270.5 billion, mainly thanks to decentralized exchanges (DEX). Importantly, the European Union’s Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), which came into force this summer, should improve clarity and innovativeness in the uses of these currencies. Its effects on crypto asset service providers will be visible in December, encouraging traditional financial institutions to embrace digital assets and thus further boost the market, particularly for stablecoins.
*Chainalysis is an independent organization that provides data, software, services and research to government agencies, stock exchanges, financial institutions, insurance and cybersecurity companies in over 70 countries. Their data powers investigative, compliance and market intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s highest-profile criminal cases and increase consumer access to cryptocurrency securely.
The full Chainalysis report is available online at https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/2024-western-europe-crypto-adoption
