Brazil Outranks US in Crypto Adoption During Worst Bear Market Since 2022

Brazil ranked as the world’s top country for grassroots crypto adoption in Chainalysis’ 2026 index. It beat the US as crypto’s market value roughly halved.

The country’s crypto economy reached $252.5 billion over the 12 months ending June 30. Worldwide, on-chain activity slipped just 1.6% while the market shed $2.1 trillion.

How Brazil Beat the US Without Winning a Single Category

Brazil ranked fourth or higher in every category the index measures. It came second in cross-border flows, third in service flows and domestic peer-to-peer (P2P) activity, and fourth in balances.

“In a year when bear markets stunted global growth, it continually delivered strong performance relative to its size, beating more established markets like the United States,” the report said.

That consistency decided the result because of how the index is built. Chainalysis scores each country from 0 to 1 for each category and then computes the geometric mean. The firm says this approach favors countries that score well across the board, so no single strong category can hide weak ones.

The US ranked first in both service flows and balances. However, it placed 11th in cross-border flows and 20th in domestic P2P transfers, leaving it second overall.

Brazil placed fifth in the firm’s 2025 ranking, which India led. Chainalysis rebuilt its methodology this year, so the two lists do not compare directly. Meanwhile, Latin America grew its crypto economy 9.8%, even as the global total shrank.

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Stablecoins Kept the Crypto Economy Moving as Market Value Halved

Brazil’s result came in what Chainalysis calls crypto’s worst bear market since 2022. Despite this, global activity remained near $9.4 trillion, down from $9.5 trillion a year earlier.

By comparison, the 2023 period saw a 23% decline in activity amid a market cap drop of just $0.3 trillion. Chainalysis credits a growing range of use cases for softening this year’s decline.

“Crypto’s growing diversity of use cases blunted the contraction,” it added.

Transfers between personal wallets inside countries rose 302.9% to $228.7 billion. Stablecoins now account for 96% of that flow. In contrast, inflows to exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and other services fell 4.3%.

Cross-border stablecoin transfers climbed 77.5% to $220.3 billion, with the average payment near $3,000. Philip Gradwell, vice president of economics at Tether, told Chainalysis the pattern points to commercial use.

“Activity has become consistent, routed through wallets in a steady rhythm rather than in bursts. That is the signature of trade and business activity, not speculation,” he stated.

Stablecoin balances held between $98 billion and $109 billion through the downturn. Their share of global on-chain holdings rose to 22.5% by June as other assets lost value.

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