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Singapore has surpassed the United States to rank as the world's leading country for cryptocurrency adoption, according to an index published Tuesday by cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in partnership with DL Research.
The World Crypto Rankings assessed 79 countries across 28 metrics and 92 data points, examining regulatory frameworks, institutional readiness, and user penetration. The US fell from first place, with Lithuania, Switzerland and the UAE rounding out the top five.
Asia-Pacific markets claimed six positions in the top 20, led by Singapore at number one, Vietnam at nine, and Hong Kong at ten. Australia ranked eleventh, the Philippines seventeenth, and South Korea twentieth.
Helen Liu, co-CEO of Bybit, said in a statement that Asia-Pacific's performance demonstrates the region is setting the pace for the industry through regulatory leadership and grassroots momentum.
Singapore's top ranking reflects regulatory clarity, institutional maturity and high user engagement, according to the report. Over 11% of Singaporeans hold cryptocurrency, representing the highest user penetration rate globally. The city-state's licensing regime has attracted major exchanges and fintech firms.
Vietnam emerged as the highest-ranked developing market, driven by grassroots adoption rather than institutional infrastructure. Nearly 20% of Vietnam's population owns digital assets, primarily for remittances, savings and inflation protection. The country ranked first globally for transactional use and decentralized physical infrastructure device adoption.
Hong Kong's tenth-place ranking marks a recovery following its regulatory overhaul and new licensing framework. User penetration ranks eighth globally, with the report describing Hong Kong as bridging Western and Asian financial models through stablecoins and tokenization.
The report identified three major trends: growth in real-world asset tokenization, which increased 63% to over $25.7 billion since January; emergence of local currency-pegged stablecoins in markets seeking reduced dollar dependence; and expansion of crypto payroll, with 9.6% of professionals receiving partial salary in cryptocurrency in 2024, up from 3% in 2023.
