A new analysis suggests Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are the world’s most “crypto-obsessed” nations in the battle for digital currency supremacy. The report explores the enthusiasm of a country for crypto through more than a dozen metrics, including ownership, online search interest, and infrastructure adoption. This study helps discern which countries prompted the greatest attention within the public on digital assets. Singapore ranked first with a composite score of 100. This ranking occurred due to an exceptional combination of ownership and digital curiosity that did not vary significantly. Just behind, the UAE came in with 99.7, and the two countries are firmly established as top global hubs for crypto activity.
Singapore’s Advantage: A Powerful Combination of Ownership and Interest
The distinguishing feature of Singapore is that both the level of engagement and the level of ownership, is as high as it is. The researchers are shocked to find that a particularly large 24.4% of people in Singapore currently own cryptocurrency. This is even more amazing considering that in 2021, only 11% of citizens owned any digital assets, demonstrating quite possibly the fastest growth of any surveyed population in just a few years.
Beyond just owning crypto, Singaporeans are actively researching it more than anyone else on the planet. The nation leads the world in search activity, logging approximately 2,000 crypto-related queries for every 100,000 people. This blend of high investment and intellectual curiosity, supported by a clear regulatory framework from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has created the perfect environment for a crypto-obsessed culture to flourish.
The UAE: Building a Global Crypto Oasis
Nipping at Singapore’s heels, the United Arab Emirates has distinguished itself by having the single highest crypto ownership rate in the world, with 25.3% of its population holding digital assets. This is the result of a deliberate and ambitious government strategy to position the country, particularly Dubai, as a global sanctuary for the crypto industry.
The UAE has seen a staggering 210% increase in crypto adoption since 2019.With organizations like Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), there is now the transparency and safety that business and high-net-worth individuals desire; hence, the Gulf nation is a draw for crypto wealth and talent.
North America’s Infrastructure Center
In addition to Singapore and the UAE being obsessed, the United States ranks third with a score of 98.5 on a different metric: infrastructure. The U.S. is home to over 30,000 cryptocurrency ATMs, a figure that is more than ten times higher than any other country. In addition to the physical footprint, the extraordinary 220% increase in crypto users since 2019 is a sign of a deep and maturing market. In the fourth position, Canada is noteworthy because it has the highest adoption growth rate in the report (225%) showing that North America is warming quickly to this space.
Obsession vs. Adoption: A Tale of Two Metrics
However, “obsession” doesn’t tell the whole story. The ApeX Protocol review started from metrics focusing on high-income metrics, but a prominent study and tracker from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis provided a different outlook. The report is the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, a metric that is more grounded in usage in the real-world by regular people. The 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index rates India the highest for the third year in a row.
The Chainalysis index focuses on volume and usage in peer-to-peer transaction activity, and suggests the actual usage of crypto as a means of finance is directed toward developing economies. Following in their footsteps are Pakistan, Vietnam and Brazil.This indicates an interesting global divide: financial centers like Singapore and the UAE are centers of crypto investment while developing economies are centers of crypto utility.
A Mainstream Financial Future
Ultimately, the data from both reports confirms one undeniable fact: cryptocurrency is no longer a fringe interest. “As a spokesperson from the ApeX Protocol stated, “It’s becoming part of how countries define their financial future.” Whether due to the complexity of investing in Singapore or the pull for simple access to financial instruments in Vietnam, digital assets are coming together all over the world, representing an underlying shift in the way we think about money, technology, and trust.
