Brazil leads global cryptocurrency adoption, surpassing US and Nigeria

Brazil has become the global leader in cryptocurrency adoption, according to the ‘Geography of Cryptocurrency Report 2026’ released by Chainalysis. Between July 2025 and June 2026, the Brazilian crypto economy moved US$ 252.5 billion, surpassing the United States and Nigeria.

The report evaluates markets based on four metrics: total service flows, peer-to-peer economy, cross-border flows, and balances. Brazil ranked among the top four countries in all categories, placing second in cross-border flows and third in both total service flows and peer-to-peer transactions.

In Latin America, Brazil’s market share has expanded significantly, rising from 31.6% of the regional volume in 2022 to 43.7% currently. While the local crypto economy saw a slight year-on-year contraction of 1.6%, it has grown by 179.4% when comparing the 2024 and 2026 periods.

This growth is accompanied by a shift toward domestic platforms; the share of Brazil-based exchanges in transaction flows rose from 1.5% to 12.5%. Experts attribute this trend to increased regulation by the Central Bank of Brazil, which has introduced stricter requirements for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) regarding governance, risk management, and minimum capital.