PHL ranks 8th among countries with most crypto account owners

NEARLY 7 million Filipinos owned cryptocurrency accounts nationwide, placing the country eighth among the number of crypto owners, according to London-based research firm Coinjournal.

The data showed there were a total of 6.99 million Filipinos or 6.13 percent of the population with a cryptocurrency account. The top three in the world are the United States, Vietnam and Pakistan.

There were also a total of 46 blockchains in financial services startups with an estimated realized cryptocurrency gain of $989.86 million. There were 36 cryptocurrency companies in the Philippines.

“Cryptocurrency is one of the fastest-growing industries on the planet, from what once was simply a form of electronic cash, to a global financial revolution that has created billionaire investors and piqued the interests of celebrities all over the world,” Coinjournal said.

Coinjournal ranked cryptocurrency countries globally by the number of crypto owners by country, and the percentage of the population involved in crypto from 2021.

The firm also looked at the number of cryptocurrency owners by country, investment companies, crypto startups, and the estimated average gains from crypto per country.

In terms of gains, the US, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Vietnam were the top countries. The US had realized cryptocurrency gains amounting to $46.95 billion while Vietnam had $3.4 billion.

“With billion-dollar companies having easy access to trading applications, the modernisation of fintech has allowed the biggest companies in the world to become even more powerful,” Coinjournal said.

“The huge rise in media attention has made crypto trading more attractive and accessible for investors from all corners of the world to get involved in financial technology,” it added.

Coinjournal said the first cryptocurrency solutions had to be found in order to trade them. In 2013, Bitcoin managed to reach parity with the US Dollar.

Since then, Coinjournal said, investors have chosen to buy Bitcoin as the currency became greater in value. Big cryptocurrency hotspots like the USA, India and the UK have shown a keen interest in trading.