When it comes to the number and share of bitcoin holders, Asia and North America lead the world. In contrast, most European countries lag behind—particularly in the central European region.

The most “bitcoin populous” country is India, with 93.5 million owners of the cryptocurrency bitcoin. Second place belongs to China (59.1 million), followed by the United States with nearly 53 million. It is no surprise that the most populous countries top the rankings in absolute terms. [1]

In relative terms (share of bitcoin owners in the total population), Asian countries also dominate. The United Arab Emirates ranks first, with 27.18% of its population owning bitcoin. The UAE is followed by Vietnam (20.87%) and the United States (15.4%). The Philippines (13.72%) and Iran (13.24%) take fourth and fifth place, respectively.

European countries, however, lag behind Asia and North America. Aside from Ukraine, none of them has a bitcoin ownership rate above 10%. In the central European region, the rates are surprisingly low. Especially if we focus on the central European region the bitcoin ownership rate is surprisingly low.

For example, Croatia, Austria, and Hungary have some of the lowest bitcoin ownership rates—around 1.3%. Slovakia is at 1.55%, followed by Czechia at 1.86%, while the highest in the region is Poland at 3.1%.

These relative figures for central European countries are similar to those in the southeastern part of Europe, such as Greece. Greece’s bitcoin ownership rate (1.54%) is almost identical to Slovakia’s and slightly below Czechia’s. Meanwhile, Poland’s rate is comparable to Spain’s (3.03%).

Although these estimates from Worldpopulationreview.com differ from BITmarkets’ own figures, the explanation for the intercontinental differences is similar: the relatively low numbers in Europe are largely due to the financial conservatism of European households, while Americans and some Asian nations are more accustomed to investing in and holding riskier assets.

Only time will tell whether the new generation of young Europeans will change their parents’ pattern.

[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/bitcoin-ownership-by-country