The cryptocurrency market's capitalisation fell about 50 percent over the past year, but the scale of actual economic activity declined only 1.6 percent. On Sept. 24, blockchain media outlet Coinpost reported that Chainalysis confirmed the trend in the 2026 edition of its Global Crypto Adoption Index report, covering the period from July 2025 to the end of June 2026.

During the survey period, global cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell by about $2.1 trillion. By contrast, overall activity combining service inflows, domestic P2P transfers and international remittances slipped to $9.4 trillion from $9.5 trillion, limiting the decline.

Funds flowing into exchanges, DeFi and other services fell 4.3 percent to $8.9 trillion. Domestic P2P transfers rose 302.9 percent to $228.7 billion, of which 96 percent was in stablecoins. Stablecoin-based international remittances also rose 77.5 percent to $220.3 billion from $124.2 billion.

Chainalysis said the figures were conservatively compiled because they excluded transactions where both the sending and receiving countries could not be identified. It also said the expansion in cross-border transactions was led by payments averaging about $3,000, closer to everyday uses such as paying suppliers, remitting money to home countries and shifting savings due to distrust of fiat currencies than to institutional investors.

Chainalysis said the widening of cryptocurrency use beyond speculation helped cushion the decline in overall activity.

Chainalysis also released its grassroots crypto adoption rankings. Starting this year, it calculated the ranking using four indicators: service inflows, domestic P2P transfers, international remittances and on-chain balances, and adjusted each figure on a purchasing power parity basis. Last year it used a method that split inflows to centralised services and DeFi protocols into retail and institutional investor scale.

In this year's ranking, Brazil placed first, the United States second and Nigeria third. Japan ranked fourth and South Korea fifth. The number of countries covered fell to 117 from 151 last year, making simple comparisons difficult, but Japan rose from 19th in the 2025 edition.

Brazil ranked second in international remittances, third in total service inflows, third in domestic P2P transfers and fourth in balances. Japan ranked fourth in total service inflows and international remittances, 10th in P2P transfers and seventh in balances.