Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis published its Global Crypto Adoption Index for 2025 on September 2, which saw the pro-digital currency policies of President Donald Trump bearing fruit as the United States moved up to second in the rankings, behind only India. The report also revealed that Asia Pacific (APAC) is the fastest-growing region overall, while Eastern Europe leads in digital activity per capita, and stablecoin adoption surges globally.
“In 2025, APAC furthered its status as the global hub of grassroots crypto activity, led by India, Pakistan, and Vietnam, whose populations drove widespread adoption across both centralized and decentralized services,” noted the report. “At the same time, North America climbed to the second-highest regional position in the presence of regulatory momentum, including the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs [exchange-traded funds] and clearer institutional frameworks, that helped legitimize and accelerate crypto participation across traditional financial channels.”
Chainalysis reached its conclusions by estimating every country’s transaction volume for different types of digital asset “services and protocols, based on the web traffic patterns of those services’ and protocols’ websites.”
While the rankings focus more on the results than the reasons behind them, Chainalysis partially explained the U.S.’s move up to second, from fourth in last year’s rankings, as a result of policies championed by President Trump.
Trump’s ‘crypto’ paradise takes shape
Since taking office in January, Trump has reshaped the U.S. regulatory landscape through his efforts to end so-called ‘crypto debanking’ and install new crypto-friendly heads to key agencies—the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) being the most prominent example—as well as adding renewed momentum to the drive for clarity-providing legislation.
Add to this Trump’s executive order of March 6 establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, and last year’s approval of spot BTC ETFs, and you have a backdrop designed to encourage a broader adoption of digital asset technology.
“North America’s 49% growth reflects a year of renewed institutional interest, bolstered by the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs and increased regulatory clarity,” said Chainalysis, adding that the U.S. also remains “the world’s largest fiat on-ramp, with over $4.2 trillion in total volume — more than four times the next-highest country.”
However, while the U.S. may be reaching new heights in digital asset adoption, it is not the fastest-growing region. That honor goes to APAC.
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APAC boom
According to the report, in the 12 months ending June 2025, APAC emerged as the fastest-growing region for on-chain digital asset activity, with a 69% year-over-year increase in value received.
Total digital currency transaction volume in APAC grew from $1.4 trillion to $2.36 trillion, which Chainalysis attributed to “robust engagement across major markets like India, Vietnam, and Pakistan.”
India topped the global crypto adoption rankings again this year—the country was first in 2024 as well—while Pakistan placed third, Vietnam fourth, Indonesia seventh, and the Philippines ninth.
Following in APAC’s wake was Latin America, whose digital asset adoption grew by 63%, “reflecting rising adoption across both retail and institutional segments,” said the report. It added, “compared to the previous year, this cycle saw accelerated growth across nearly every region, with particularly sharp increases in APAC and Latin America.”
Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa’s adoption grew by 52%, Europe’s gain was 42%, and the Middle East and North Africa saw 33% growth.
APAC may be the fastest growing region—based on total activity adjusted for GDP per capita—but when the data is adjusted for population size, Eastern Europe leads the way.
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Dominant Eastern Europe
“Our index has traditionally focused on total activity adjusted for GDP per capita, an approach that worked best when crypto was niche and concentrated among high-volume users,” said Chainalysis. “But as adoption broadens, population-adjusted metrics offer a clearer view of where crypto is gaining real grassroots traction.”
When adjusted for population, the data revealed a slightly different story, with Eastern European countries leading the way, notably Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia; first, second, and third, respectively.
This placement reflects these countries’ high levels of digital asset activity relative to the size of their populations. For comparison, India’s population is over 1.4 billion (at the latest estimates), while Ukraine is just over 38.9 million.
“A combination of economic uncertainty, distrust in traditional financial institutions, and strong technical literacy across the region might drive adoption in Eastern Europe,” suggested Chainalysis. “These factors make crypto an appealing alternative for both wealth preservation and cross-border transactions, especially in countries facing inflation, war, or banking restrictions.”
Whatever the reasons, digital assets appear to have taken a solid foothold over a larger percentage of populations in Eastern Europe. However, APAC may not be far behind in this category either. Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, and Singapore all placed high: fifth, sixth, and fifteenth, respectively.
Population-based differences aside, one consistent theme that emerged from the data was the growing impact of stablecoins across all jurisdictions.
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Stablecoins surge globally
The stablecoin regulatory landscape has evolved significantly over the past 12 months. The provisions of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation related to stablecoins came into effect on June 30 last year. Meanwhile, the U.S.—whose partisan and painfully slow legislative process has seen it lag behind global peers in blockchain regulation—also managed to finally get some legislation to the president’s desk.
In July, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act in law, a long-awaited piece of legislation that establishes the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, including definitions, reserve requirements and anti-money laundering and counter the financing of terrorism standards.
The GENIUS Act has not yet taken effect, this will be either January 18, 2027 or 120 days following the final implementing regulations—whichever comes first—but according to Chainalysis its passage “has driven strong institutional interest.”
Along with MiCA, which “paved the way for the launch of licensed euro-referenced stablecoins like EURC,” the U.S. legislative progress has opened two of the largest global markets for increased stablecoin adoption.
In terms of which stablecoins are thriving in this new world, transaction volume remains dominated by USDT (Tether) and USDC, “which consistently dwarf other stablecoins in scale.”
Based on Chainalysis’s report, between June 2024 and June 2025, USDT processed over $1 trillion per month, peaking at $1.14T in January 2025. USDC, meanwhile, ranged from $1.24T to $3.29T monthly, with particularly high activity in October 2024.
“These volumes highlight the continued centrality of Tether and USDC in crypto market infrastructure, especially for cross-border payments and institutional activity,” said Chainalysis. “USDC’s growth appears closely linked to U.S.-based institutional rails and regulated corridors, while EURC’s rise suggests growing interest in euro-denominated digital assets, possibly driven by MiCA-compliant platforms and European fintech adoption.”
It added that “these developments suggest a fragmenting but expanding stablecoin landscape, where local use cases increasingly shape global volumes.”
Overall, the message of the Chainalysis global adoption index 2025 was that the digital asset space continues to grow across almost every market and jurisdiction, to different extents and at varying paces. However, clear regulation is a key factor in the success of the space, particularly for stablecoins, which have been the focus of many early legislative efforts.
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Watch | MiCA and the Future of Stablecoins: What Comes Next for Tether?
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Source: https://coingeek.com/us-ranks-second-in-crypto-adoption-apac-fastest-growing-region/
