Ukraine is at the top of the Global Crypto Adoption Index 2020, followed by Russia and Venezuela.

This is according to recent data unveiled by Chainalysis. 

The index is based on three on-chain metrics: the total value of on-chain crypto transactions weighted by purchasing power per capita (PPP), the value of on-chain retail transfers weighted by PPP, and the number of on-chain crypto deposits weighted by the number of internet users, reports Cointelegraph.

In addition, the index also takes into account the volume of trades made on peer-to-peer crypto exchanges, weighted by both the number of internet users and PPP.

The report revealed highly unbalanced development levels across the cryptocurrency sectors of many countries, with the index’s per capita weighting placing China in a poor position by number of on-chain deposits and P2P trade due to its large population, coming in fourth place.

In contrast, the top two performing nations by P2P exchange volume are Kenya and Venezuela, both coming in the overall top five despite not making the top 10 by any other metric.

Nevertheless, emphasis on P2P volume could ignore the establishment of local regulated exchanges as an indicator of crypto adoption and affect the results in favour of developing nations without a strong financial sector.

According to Chainalysis, Venezuela is an “excellent example” of the forces that propel cryptocurrency adoption within emerging countries, emphasising its usage by Venezuelans as a way to sidestep economic instability.

“Our data shows that Venezuelans use cryptocurrency more when the country’s native fiat currency is losing value to inflation, suggesting that Venezuelans turn to cryptocurrency to preserve savings they may otherwise lose”, the report stated.

Furthermore, Vietnam came second in terms of the value of both retail and all on-chain transactions, whilst no countries in western Europe made Chainalysis’ top 10 countries by crypto adoption.