Many countries have embraced cryptocurrencies. In Switzerland, this isn’t the case. A new study shows why.
Switzerland is lagging behind in the latest country ranking, which looks at how interested various populations are in cryptocurrencies. The study, released Friday, was conducted by the portal BrokerChoose's annual crypto proliferation index.
Switzerland ranks 39th alongside industrialized countries such as Norway, Austria and Finland, but is also positioned close to Mexico, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Croatia. The top position is held by Ukraine, followed by Russia and the U.S. in third place. Kenya, South Africa and the U.K. are also among the runners-up.
Who Gets into the Top Ten?
One of the most important criteria is how widespread digital currencies are to start with. The index includes the share of the population that holds cryptocurrencies. In Switzerland, this is currently around 1.8 percent.
Distribution counts
By comparison, Ukraine reaches 12.7 percent, while 11.9 percent of the population are cryptocurrencies holders in Russia and in the U.S. the amount comes to 8.3 percent.
In Switzerland digital currencies are still exotic; only around 160,000 people own Bitcoins, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
Satisfy curiosity
The study also evaluated internet searches in various countries to assess the interest in cryptocurrencies. In the past twelve months, there were around 73 searches among 10,000 inhabitants in Switzerland.
By contrast, in the U.S. and the U.K., more people wanted to find out about the new world of digital currencies. Among 10,000 inhabitants there were 208 and 305 per 10,000 inhabitants respectively - i.e., well over twice or three times as many queries than in Switzerland.
Stable financial system
However, the front-runner in terms of search queries is Singapore, followed by Australia. There, there were 429 and 365 crypto searches per 10,000 residents, respectively, signaling nearly 600 percent more interest in the topic of cryptocurrencies.
A reason for Switzerland's comparatively low ranking with regard to its interest could be due to its stable currency and good financial system infrastructure.
Transfers to family members
In countries where this is less the case, people in countries are more likely to look for alternatives. This also explains why traditional immigration countries, such as the U.K. and the U.S. also rank higher on the index. Numerous residents of these countries are using cryptocurrencies to make regular money transfers to friends and families back home.
