Crypto Payments More Popular in LATAM and EMEA Countries (Report)

According to a study carried out by the global hiring platform Deel, residents of Latin American nations are most likely to say “yes” to receiving salaries in cryptocurrencies. Citizens of the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) area ranked second.

Crypto Flourishes in Troubled Economies

Deel’s research estimated that 67% of the cryptocurrency payments between January 2022 and June 2022 were conducted in Latin America. It is worth noting that the region is full of nations battling severe financial and social issues.

For one, Venezuela has been on a downward economic spiral for years. The inflation rate there is among the highest in the world, while a considerable chunk of the locals are unemployed.

El Salvador – the first country to embrace bitcoin as an official payment method inside its borders – has the reputation of being the most violent nation in the region. Earlier this year, it recorded a murder rate of 52 per 100,000 inhabitants, ranking first in the world in that grim statistics.

Transferring payments in the form of crypto has also been popular in the EMEA region. 24% of all such settlements were carried out in that area, which is also home to many countries with monetary problems.

The study’s results doubled down on the assumption that operations involving digital assets thrive in distressed economies. The narrative comes from the fact that many of those residents lack basic access to financial services, while crypto could offer a solution.

It is also worth observing which assets were the most transacted. The largest one by market capitalization – Bitcoin (BTC) – is the leader accounting for 47% of all settlements. Circle’s stablecoin – USDC – and Ether (ETH) rounded up the top three with respectively 29% and 14%.

Latinos Are the Most Bullish on Crypto

Another recent research run by Ripple determined that residents of Latin America are the most inclined toward the digital asset sector. 50% of participants expect crypto to cause a significant impact on the future financial system, while 74% would be happy to transact with businesses that accept bitcoin or altcoins.

Citizens of Middle Eastern countries were also bullish. 67% of them prefer to make transactions with entities that embrace the asset class.

Those respondents were most likely to personally invest in cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, many of them trust their banks more than popular exchanges and would distribute their wealth in digital assets through an authorized financial institution.