Blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis has found that the total cryptocurrency gains worldwide amounted to $163 billion in 2021, which was 5x the previous year or a 400% increase.
Chainalysis on crypto gains around the world
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis published a blog post titled “2021 Cryptocurrency Gains by Country: Ethereum Leads as Skyrocket Gains Around the World” last week.
The firm explained that its estimates are based on a combination of web traffic data and its transaction data, including “on-chain, macro-level flows of all crypto assets” it tracks.
Noting that “2021 was another strong year for cryptocurrency,” the company wrote that for all the cryptocurrencies it tracks:
Investors around the world realized total gains of $162.7 billion in 2021, compared to just $32.5 billion in 2020.
The United States is by far in the lead with nearly $47 billion in cryptocurrency earnings, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Turkey, Russia, France, South Korea, Canada and Spain.
Chainalysis also provided estimated cryptocurrency gains by country by coin. The blockchain data analytics firm described:
The most notable trend here is in Ethereum gains. Ethereum just edged out bitcoin in total gains made worldwide by $76.3 billion to $74.7 billion.
“We believe this reflects increased demand for Ethereum as the result of defi’s rise in 2021,” the firm continued, emphasizing that most decentralized finance (defi) protocols are built on the Ethereum blockchain and use ETH as their primary currency.
Nonetheless, Chainalysis noted, “While most individual countries follow this pattern, there are some notable exceptions. Japan, for example, received a much higher share of realized bitcoin gains at just under $4.0 billion, compared to just $790 million of realized Ethereum gains.
