The biggest story in the crypto industry this year is the approval of the highly successful Spot Bitcoin ETF, which entered the market in January. Almost a year later, these products have helped push the once-fringe cryptocurrency industry into the mainstream and expand global adoption, says a new report from blockchain data analysis firm Chainaries. .
The emergence of traditional financial institutions transformed the industry and cemented the United States as the dominant power. “This has only fundamentally changed the landscape in North America, but it has global implications,” said Eric Jardine, head of cybercrime research at Chainalysis. luck.
According to this year's Crypto Geography report, North America accounts for 22.5% of global crypto activity, with an estimated on-chain value of $1.3 trillion (Mexico is not included in this section of the report) ).
Jardine said the introduction of exchange-traded funds was an important turning point for the cryptocurrency industry, codifying the place of existing traditional financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Goldman Sachs. An astonishing 70% of crypto transfers in North America exceed $1 million, “reflecting the growing influence of large financial players in the region's crypto markets,” the report said.
Jardine said the approval of a Bitcoin ETF in January legalized Bitcoin, allowing financial institutions to participate through clearly defined channels, and allowing new participant groups to be formed. He said it had become. “Once that clarity was provided by the SEC's decision, ultimately this whole new class of actors were able and willing to participate, and they didn't miss it. “Sho,” he said.
Jardine said that on a global scale, North America's dominance of the crypto market could be good news for early adopters around the world. “This could mean that assets that were bought years ago and moved on-chain suddenly have large institutional investors bringing in a lot of liquidity, driving prices up in the long run. “This could be reflected in the pricing mechanism,” he said.
Jardine also sees North America's dominance driving global adoption at the grassroots level. “What we are likely to see, for example, is other large institutions, traditional financial institutions, and other places, all of which are likely to start participating in this asset class as well, and that It’s all kinds of pervasive legitimizing effects,” he said. “As the US is currently stating, Bitcoin is an asset class in its own right…and that will widen adoption to more people.”
Within its first 100 days, the Spot Bitcoin ETF surpassed the wildly popular gold ETF, making it the most popular ETF of all time. “Everything we've seen from the data so far tells us that this asset class is here and will essentially be here for the long term,” Jardine said.
