Only 4% of the World Owns Bitcoin – Adoption Still in its Infancy

Bitcoin (BTC) may have a big name, but only 4% of people worldwide hold it. The US leads the pack: 14% of the population there holds BTC, according to a report by River, a financial service provider around Bitcoin. North America is the leader in adoption, while Africa lags behind with only 1.6%.

In general? The wealthier the region, the more BTC you see. River estimates that Bitcoin has only tapped into 3% of its maximum adoption potential. That means: we are only at the beginning of what this digital currency can become. They arrived at that 3% by looking at the ‘total addressable market’ – governments, businesses, institutions – and that turned out to be only 1%. Add some institutional and individual figures to that, and voilà: 3%.

BTC has come a long way since the cypherpunk days – it has even become an official reserve asset of the US – but the road to global mass adoption? That is still full of bumps.

What is holding things back?

Bitcoin is stuck between tech and finance – two worlds that are difficult enough on their own, let alone together. The biggest stumbling block? A lack of knowledge. Many people don’t understand BTC and immediately think of scams or pyramid schemes. Education about money and tech is essential to correct this.

And then there’s the volatility: a blessing for traders, but a nightmare for those who want to use BTC to pay or store value . You can see this clearly in developing countries. A Chainalysis report from 2023 showed that stablecoins steal the show there, especially in Latin America. Why? Low costs and stable rates – something BTC can’t offer with its wild swings. People there prefer to grab dollar-stablecoins as a digital piggy bank.

At the Crypto Summit in the White House on March 7, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dropped a bombshell: the US is going to use stablecoins to keep the dollar as world champion. That sounds like a smart move to counter BTC’s advance.

Opportunity for BTC?

With only 3% adoption, the world is still wide open for Bitcoin. But those misunderstandings need to be cleared up, and that volatility perhaps tamed a bit. What do you think – will BTC ever really break through, or will it remain subordinate to fiat currencies and stablecoins?