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Right now, only 4% of the global population holds Bitcoin (BTC), which is currently priced at $79,315. The United States has the highest concentration of ownership, with around 14% of people estimated to own BTC.
According to a research report by the financial services company River, North America remains the continent with the highest adoption rate among individuals and institutions, while Africa currently has the lowest at just 1.6%.
Overall, more developed regions tend to have a stronger trend of BTC adoption compared to developing areas. River estimates that Bitcoin has only reached 3% of its maximum adoption potential—this suggests that the digital currency is still in the early stages of global adoption. The financial services company came up with this 3% figure by calculating Bitcoin’s total addressable market, which includes governments, corporations, and institutions—making up just 1%.
Bitcoin sits at the intersection of technology and finance—two topics that are pretty complex on their own, and even more so when combined!
One of the biggest challenges to Bitcoin’s widespread adoption is the lack of financial and technical education, which fuels misconceptions about BTC—like the idea that it’s a scam or a Ponzi scheme.
Digital assets are also notorious for their high volatility, which is great for short-term traders but not so much for anyone using BTC as a medium of exchange or a store of value. This high volatility especially impacts people in developing economies, who have turned to US dollar stablecoins as a digital store of value due to their lower transaction fees and relative stability compared to other cryptocurrencies.
During the recent White House Crypto Summit on March 7, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the United States will use stablecoins to ensure the dominance of the US dollar and protect its position as the world’s reserve currency.
