Crypto Booms in Vietnam with 16.6 Million Owners (Report)

The “Vietnam Crypto Market Report 2022” revealed that 16.6 million Vietnamese own digital currencies, with bitcoin being the most popular asset.

Another research conducted by Chainalysis placed the Asian country as the world leader in cryptocurrency adoption, with a score of 1,000.

Near the top

The study, reported by a local media outlet, estimated that 16.6 million Vietnamese had bought cryptocurrencies (about 17% of the country’s population). 31% of these have invested in bitcoin, making it the most preferred digital asset.

The research determined that Thailand is the only country with more HODLers than Vietnam in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Aside from having a significant number of crypto investors, Vietnam is also home to several blockchain projects that primarily focus on GameFi (Game Finance), NFTs or Web3.

Vietnamese have founded seven of the top 200 blockchain organizations globally, with Axie Infinity, Coin98 and Kyber Network being some of the examples. Axie Infinity is among the most popular blockchain-based games, peaking at nearly three million users in early 2022. The user base dropped below one million in the following months before rising again at the start of 2023.

The game suffered a serious setback in March last year after the North Korean hacker collective – Lazarus Group – drained over $600 million worth of digital currencies from the Ronin Network – an Ethereum-affiliated sidechain that powers Axie Infinity. The project improved its security policy and restarted operations three months later.

A global leader according to Chainalysis

“The 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index,” a study conducted by Chainalysis, outlined Vietnam as the world leader in cryptocurrency adoption, reaching a score of 1,000. The platform claimed that one reason behind its success could be the high interest in blockchain-based games in the region. It is worth noting that Vietnam also ranked first in the 2021 research.

The Philippines – another Southeast Asian country – was second with a score of 0.753, while war-torn Ukraine was third with 0.694.

Most nations on the top 20 list included lower-middle-income economies, such as Nigeria and Indonesia, and upper-middle-income economies (Argentina, Brazil, Turkey).

Two of the world’s super economies – the US and the UK – also found their place, ranking 5th and 17th respectively.