The Bank of Spain published a report on April 26 that detailed how Spaniards and Europeans used cryptocurrency in the previous year.
Decentralized services and unbacked crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are preferred by Europeans, according to the survey. Furthermore, the Central Bank of Spain stated that the volume of cryptocurrency transactions in the European Region expanded at a rapid rate over the last year, surpassing that of the United States and reaching nearly €845 billion.
“Over the past year, the volume of transactions in Europe was nearly €845 billion in crypto assets (4.9% of GDP, 0.9% of total financial assets), representing 25% of the global total, ahead of North America.”
According to the report, Europeans have a greater interest in using unbacked cryptocurrencies, with transactions in BTC and ETH accounting for approximately 60% of all transactions made over the last year. Backed cryptocurrencies accounted for 25%, with an overall Interest in altcoins other than ETH reaching about 15%.
The ECB, on the other hand, indicated that 64 percent of Spaniards prefer to conduct their transactions using decentralized services (which do not require an intermediary). In comparison, the average use of these services in the rest of Europe is 53%.
This means that, despite the success of centralized exchanges such as Binance or Bit2me in Europe, the legal environment pushes citizens to seek out other ways to interact and trade. Uniswap, Pancakeswap, Sushiswap, and other similar services step in to fill the void.
It appears that criminals are uninterested in cryptocurrency. According to the research, criminal activities such as theft, scams, and frauds accounted for only 1% of all cryptocurrency transactions between July 2020 and June 2021.
According to the survey, France is first in Europe in terms of transaction volume, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain in that order. These outcomes were expected. According to separate research published by Invezz, an online financial news and education portal, France is the “top nation to trade bitcoin.”
Furthermore, France’s re-elected President, Emmanuel Macron, is one of Europe’s few pro-bitcoin presidents. He talked about developing a European metaverse where cryptocurrencies are regulated without harming or slowing down their development during an interview with a local media outlet.
“Building a European metaverse also means producing, promoting, and mastering our cultural and creative content. The metaverse has enormous potential in culture and entertainment thanks to its applications in music, concerts, art exhibitions, etc. We cannot consider our cultural policy without this revolution.”