This country leads the world in crypto trading — and it isn’t the one you think – MarketWatch
Financial centers like New York and London might be home to the hustle and bustle of equity and currency trading, but in the world of cryptocurrency, traditional hubs rank down the list.
According to a December exchange report by CryptoCompare, a global digital currency data provider, the country that facilitated the largest volume of cryptocurrency exchange trading is a small island in southern Europe with a population of less than half a million: Malta.
In December, Maltese exchanges processed just under $40 billion worth of digital currencies, more than second-place Hong Kong with $32.5 billion and twice as much as the U.S., the fifth largest hub for crypto exchange trading.
CryptoCompare Crypto trading by location
“It’s home to some of the largest exchanges who have chosen to set up shop as they [Malta] have carved out a crypto-friendly regulatory atmosphere,” said Charles Hayter, co-founder of CryptoCompare.
Malta’s acceptance of the opaque industry moved forward in December, when, along with six other European nations, it signed a declaration to promote blockchain technology. At the signing, Silvio Schembri, Malta’s minister for financial services tweeted: “Proud to see the smallest nation in the EU taking a leading role.”
While the U.S. may linger in fifth place, the greenback remains the most popular fiat currency to trade against bitcoin, BTCUSD, +0.12% the most popular digital currency.
“In December, 57% of all of bitcoin trading into fiat was made up of the U.S. dollar, while trading into the Korean won decreased significantly since the previous month. Proportionally, bitcoin trading into the USD and JPY increased 14% and 43.4% respectively since November,” wrote CryptoCompare in its exchange review.
Joining Malta, Hong Kong and the U.S. in the top five were Samoa at third and the Seychelles, fourth.
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