According to the Bank of Spain in 2021, Spaniards moved an average of 1.270 euros in cryptocurrencies per inhabitant.
Cryptocurrency adoption continues to advance worldwide. In Spain, according to official data published by the Bank of Spain in a report, there have been about 100,000 cryptocurrencies 60.000 billion euros in cryptocurrency transactions.
Although at first glance this may seem like a huge amount, the truth is that the volume of money moved by stocks alone in 2021 was six times greater. However, in comparison, while investment in cryptocurrencies has grown, Stock trading has fallen by 12% in one year.
For the study, the Bank of Spain has used blockchain data provided by Chainalysis. In this sense, the report points out that Spain is in the Fourth place on the list of countries that have carried out the most cryptocurrency transactions in Europe, only behind France, Germany and the Netherlands.
On the other hand, the number of transactions carried out by Portugal and the Netherlands is striking in the list, which is much higher than it should be given the size of their economies.
For its report, the Bank of Spain has also used other sources of information, such as the Finder Crypto Adoption Index, which estimates that 12% of Spanish adults have invested in them.
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In this sense, the age group that invests the most in cryptocurrencies is between 18 and 24 years old, which worries the entity due to the Lack of financial culture and education which exposes them to scams.
On the other hand, between July 2020 and June 2021, data from the Bank of Spain indicate that Only 1% of transactions had an illicit purposeHowever, this data is not 100% reliable, as it is based on those in which Chainalysis has identified a police intervention.
Europe, the mecca of cryptocurrencies
Data from the Bank of Spain also indicate that Europe has a higher transaction volume than the United States; 25% compared to 18% in the US. In total, more than 845.000 billion euros in cryptocurrencies have been moved in Europe.
On the other hand, the profile of investors has also changed slightly. Initially, small investments dominated the data, but in the last year, large-volume transactions (of €10 million or more) have visibly increased, suggesting that there is a general change in the profile of cryptocurrency investors.
On the other hand, European cryptocurrency users prefer the decentralized services and exchanges, with Bitcoin and Ethereum being the favorites, accounting for 60% of transactions made in the last year. Stablecoins and third-party-backed cryptocurrencies account for 25%, while the rest of the altcoins account for 15% of transactions.
The future of cryptocurrencies according to the Bank of Spain
Despite the current “regulatory vacuum” that exists around cryptocurrencies, the Bank of Spain report highlights the potential of blockchain technology to streamline and strengthen the traditional financial system, reducing transaction costs and improving payment interoperability.
The report also notes that Bitcoin has not yet become a mainstream payment method due to its volatile price, which makes it difficult to estimate its value.
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