Realised crypto gains by investors globally grew 400% in 2021 surpassing $160 billion

As the popularity and adoption of cryptocurrencies by individuals, organizations, and governments around the world intensify year by year, 2021 has brought some remarkable results in terms of benefits for crypto investors.

Indeed, crypto investors’ gains globally and across cryptocurrencies increased by more than 400% in just one year, according to the report published by on-chain analytics platform Chainalysis on April 20.

Overall, across all cryptocurrencies that the platform observed, investors around the world reached gains totaling $162.7 billion in 2021, which is an increase of precisely 400.61% from $32.5 billion in 2020.

Which countries had the largest gains?

In terms of specific countries, the United States was the largest gainer, accounting for $46.96 billion or 28.86% of the total gains realised across the world in 2021. It was followed by the United Kingdom with $8.16 billion (5%), Germany with $5.83 billion (3.58%), Japan with $5.51 billion (3.39%), and China with $5.06 billion (3.11%).

This means that the crypto investors in the United States realised more gains in 2021 than the entire world did in 2020.

Interestingly, crypto investment gains in some countries were larger than their own gross domestic product (GDP) which is traditionally taken as the measure of a country’s economic prosperity.

Which cryptocurrencies were predominant?

In terms of specific cryptocurrencies, gains acquired in Ethereum (ETH) were slightly higher than those in Bitcoin (BTC). Specifically, total Ethereum gains around the globe amounted to $76.3 billion in 2021, 2.12% more compared to Bitcoin’s of $74.7 billion.

According to the platform, Ethereum’s dominance in this metric represents the increased demand for the coin, as the result of the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) in 2021. Notably, most DeFi protocols are constructed on the Ethereum network and use its cryptocurrency as their primary currency.

One of the exceptions to this trend is Japan, where crypto investors received a lot higher gains in Bitcoin (close to $4 billion) than in Ethereum ($790 million).