Report: Driven by DeFi, North America’s crypto volume increased 1,000% year-over-year

Chainalysis said North America’s DeFi transactions were led by retail investors in the last year, with many transactions under $10,000.

Digital analytics firm Chainalysis reported that the growth in North America’s crypto market has been driven by the rise in popularity of decentralized finance.

In its 2021 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, Chainalysis said the monthly crypto transaction volume across North America grew by more than 1,000% from July 2020 to June 2021. The monthly volume reached a peak of $164 billion in May 2021 before dipping to just over $100 billion in June.

According to Chainalysis’ report, decentralized finance, or DeFi, was largely responsible for North America continuing to maintain its position as one of the largest crypto markets worldwide. DeFi transactions represented 37% of North America’s overall transaction volume from July 2020 to June 2021, with residents sending roughly $276 billion in crypto to platforms in the DeFi space. 

The Central, Northern and Western Europe region sent the most in crypto overall — $389 billion, roughly 40% of its overall transaction volume during the same time period. Chainalysis said “DeFi whales” were responsible for turning the region into the world’s biggest cryptocurrency economy, with the majority of institutional-sized transfers going towards platforms in decentralized finance.

However, the report said North America’s DeFi transactions were led by retail investors in the last year, with many transactions under $10,000. Uniswap was the most popular DeFi platform in North America, with users having sent more than $100 billion in transaction volume between July 2020 and June 2021.

“Right now, DeFi is targeted towards crypto insiders,” said dYdX growth lead David Gogel. “It’s people who have been in the industry for a while and have enough funds to experiment with new assets.”

Related: Is the cryptocurrency epicenter moving away from East Asia?

In addition, Eastern Asia’s crypto market has been declining, likely driven by the regulatory crackdowns on China’s crypto industry and mining in the region. Chainalysis reported P2P trade volume in China had dropped significantly over the last year, ranking the country in the 155th position worldwide compared to 53rd the year prior. Though Eastern Asia still received $591 billion in crypto transactions between July 2020 and June 2021 — a growth of 452% year-over-year — the firm labeled the region as the “slowest-growing” in its analysis.

“Mining isn’t the only part of China’s cryptocurrency economy affected by the crackdown,” reported Chainalysis. “The government has taken other actions such as campaigning against cryptocurrency in state-sponsored media, placing official warning messages on cryptocurrency-related apps, and potentially leaning on social media companies to suppress cryptocurrency-related content.”