Countries with high Bitcoin holdings share weak banking systems

[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] El Salvador, Venezuela and Nigeria were identified as countries with a high share of people who have held Bitcoin. In those countries, Bitcoin is being used not merely as a speculative asset but as a way to bypass unstable financial systems.

Bitcoin Magazine, a blockchain outlet, reported on Tuesday that Cornell University pointed to currency instability and a lack of financial infrastructure as common factors among countries with high levels of experience holding Bitcoin, in its recently released Bitcoin Adoption Index report.

The report surveyed about 26,000 people worldwide on whether they had ever held Bitcoin and produced country rankings. Many of the top-ranked countries were those where local currency values are unstable, access to dollars is low, or stable banking services are hard to use, rather than major financial hubs such as the United States.

The research team analysed that Bitcoin functions as a "practical workaround" rather than a "speculative bet" in El Salvador, Venezuela and Nigeria. That means Bitcoin is being used as an alternative route to replace the existing financial system when everyday financial infrastructure does not function properly.