Only 4% of the world's population holds Bitcoin in 2025: Report

Only 4% of the planetary colonisation presently holds Bitcoin (BTC), with the highest attraction of ownership successful the United States, wherever an estimated 14% of individuals ain BTC.

According to a probe report from River, a BTC fiscal services company, North America remains the continent with the highest adoption complaint among individuals and institutions, portion Africa is presently the lowest astatine lone 1.6%.

Overall, BTC adoption tended to beryllium higher successful much developed regions than successful processing regions. River estimates that BTC has lone achieved 3% of its maximum adoption imaginable — signaling that the integer currency is inactive successful the early stages of planetary adoption.

Bitcoin’s adoption way is inactive lone astatine 3%. Source: River

The fiscal services institution arrived astatine the 3% fig by calculating Bitcoin's full addressable market, which includes governments, corporations, and institutions — astatine lone 1%.

River besides took organization underallocation and idiosyncratic ownership rates into relationship to get astatine the 3% metric.

Although Bitcoin has travel a agelong mode since its aboriginal cypherpunk days, precocious becoming a US authorities reserve asset, respective hurdles basal successful the mode of Bitcoin wide adoption connected a planetary scale.

Estimated Bitcoin ownership by geographic region. Source: River

Related: Bitcoin risks play adjacent beneath $82K connected US BTC reserve disappointment

What's stopping wide adoption?

Bitcoin stands astatine the intersection of exertion and concern — 2 topics that are dense capable connected their own, fto unsocial together.

The biggest occupation facing Bitcoin's wide adoption is simply a deficiency of financial and method education, which fuels misconceptions astir BTC — including the thought that it is simply a scam oregon a Ponzi Scheme.

Digital assets are besides notorious for their precocious volatility — a person of the short-term trader but the force of anyone utilizing BTC arsenic a mean of speech oregon a store of value.

A 2023 study from Chainalysis revealed that stablecoins were the astir wide transferred integer plus successful Latin American counties. Source: Chainalysis

High volatility disproportionality affects residents successful processing economies, who person turned to US dollar stablecoins arsenic a integer store of worth owed to their debased transaction fees and comparative stableness compared to different cryptocurrencies.

During the caller White House Crypto Summit connected March 7, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US volition use stablecoins to guarantee US dollar hegemony and support its presumption arsenic the planetary reserve currency.

Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins