Crypto Ownership Doubled in U.S. and Other Regions in 2021, New Gemini Report Reveals

Crypto holders are paying attention to rising prices.

This week, cryptocurrency exchange Gemini published its inaugural Global State of Crypto report. The research found that crypto ownership doubled last year in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia Pacific regions. An average of 45% of all crypto holders in those geographies made their first crypto purchases in 2021.

“Crypto adoption reached a true tipping point last year, becoming an established economic driver and a valued investment across the globe,” says Noah Perlman, Chief Operating Officer at Gemini, in the official announcement. “We expect to see the influx of crypto investors continue into this year with concerns about inflation in the U.S. and globally driving interest."

While inflation drove adoption, lack of crypto education slowed it

The research had several key findings, one of which was that the primary driver of the accelerated adoption of cryptocurrency across different geographies was the accelerating rate of inflation.

• Respondents in countries that saw a 50%+ devaluation in their homeland currencies were more than five times as likely to say they plan to purchase crypto in the coming year, including:
  • South Africa (32%)
  • Mexico (32%)
  • India (40%)
  • Brazil (45%)
• In Brazil, where the local currency has been devalued by 200%+ against the U.S. dollar, 41% of survey participants already own a form of cryptocurrency.
• In the U.S., 40% of crypto owners see crypto as a hedge against inflation.

Additionally, the respondents cited a lack of crypto education as a primary barrier. Participants were nearly twice as likely to say that more educational resources about digital assets would help them get started with crypto (40%) compared to recommendations from friends (22%).

The crypto gender gap is shrinking worldwide

Another interesting area Gemini explored was crypto adoption by gender. As recently as last November, Pew Research found from its crypto survey that more than twice as many men had purchased crypto than women -- showing a clear crypto gender gap.

However, this latest Gemini report shows that the gap appears to be shrinking. Among the crypto curious who plan to purchase a virtual currency for the first time in the next year, 47% were women globally. Women in developing nations represented at least half of crypto owners in Israel, Indonesia and Nigeria.

On the other hand, within developed regions, only a third of current crypto owners are women, including in the U.S. (32%), Europe (33%), and Australia (27%).

Read more: Gemini exchange review

"Education also remains a global barrier to adoption, and providing investors additional resources is key to bringing new users into the crypto ecosystem, especially women who make up a majority of the crypto-curious audience," Perlman says.

The survey was conducted online between Nov. 23, 2021 and Feb. 4, 2022, capturing 30,000 respondents from 20 countries between the ages of 18 to 75 with household incomes of $14,000 or more.