Surveys reveal that Australia has become the third-largest country on a global scale for crypto adoption!

Over the last decade, blockchain technology has grown in popularity and use. It has already begun to disrupt the existing markets in Australia and around the world. The opportunities introduced by blockchain and cryptocurrency have been invested in, studied, explored, and considered in almost all sectors of the economy. Experts have learned that North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Asia witnessed declines in P2P transactions, and an increased crypto adoption has developed in these regions, primarily pushed by institutional investing.

According to recent surveys, almost 18% of Australia's population owns cryptocurrencies. On a global scale, Australians are crypto enthusiasts. It is more bullish on cryptocurrencies than most other countries around the world. One of the major reasons behind it might be the country's government and regulators being seemingly open to crypto and blockchain industry growth.

Australia's crypto adoption

Bitcoin is on the tear. BTC has risen more than 1000% since 2020. The crypto's primary aim was to become the largest currency in the world. Large amounts of money printing by the major global economies leads to an increase in economic activity, but over time it might devalue fiat currencies and cause inflation. Under these circumstances, crypto enthusiasts turn to bitcoin as it can act as a hedge against inflation. Similar to the rest of the crypto traders, Australian investors extensively invest in bitcoin to gain a safe ground for the store of value.

Crypto analysis site Finder mentions that in their annual global cryptocurrency survey, almost 41,645 individuals across 22 countries were surveyed. Of these 1003 individuals were Australians, and 17.8% of them own cryptocurrency. This survey represents the country's crypto ownership rate, which is much higher than the global average of 11.4%.

The survey also revealed other facts. While several residents of the country avail themselves of cryptocurrencies, almost 43% of the population believe that the market's volatility will impact their investments and cause financial losses.

 Cryptos that are most popular in Australia

The most popular cryptocurrency in Australia is bitcoin. Almost 9% of the population owns BTC, which has fallen from 13% since the beginning of the year. Bitcoin's declining usage points towards the increasing investment in other cryptos like ethereum, Cardano, dogecoin, and bitcoin cash.

Will regulations play a part in Australia's growing crypto addiction?

While investments are on the rise, regulators have been slow in implementing proper guidelines and laws for investors in the crypto industry to follow. Currently, the country's anti-money laundering regulator, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC) has mandated that emerging and existing crypto companies and exchanges have to get registered by the organization.

Moreover, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has said that the crypto gains are subject to similar tax policies as shares, and need to be reported in the tax office. Crypto investors will be subjected to capital gains taxes. But the regulations surrounding cryptocurrency are still unclear, hence, investors are still unsure about their obligations to the government.

Despite its potential, there is significant uncertainty surrounding the future of crypto and blockchain in Australia. There are still several unknowns about the impact of cryptos on the national economy, along with lingering doubts about the blockchain network's capacity to work at a large scale while remaining decentralized. The extent to which the public will trust the decentralized systems is also uncertain. Nevertheless, the current circumstances have proven positive for crypto's future and eventually become a highly valuable asset for Australian residents.