[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] El Salvador, Venezuela and Nigeria were identified as countries with a high share of people who have held Bitcoin. In those countries, Bitcoin is being used not merely as a speculative asset but as a way to bypass unstable financial systems.

Bitcoin Magazine, a blockchain outlet, reported on Tuesday that Cornell University pointed to currency instability and a lack of financial infrastructure as common factors among countries with high levels of experience holding Bitcoin, in its recently released Bitcoin Adoption Index report.

The report surveyed about 26,000 people worldwide on whether they had ever held Bitcoin and produced country rankings. Many of the top-ranked countries were those where local currency values are unstable, access to dollars is low, or stable banking services are hard to use, rather than major financial hubs such as the United States.

The research team analysed that Bitcoin functions as a "practical workaround" rather than a "speculative bet" in El Salvador, Venezuela and Nigeria. That means Bitcoin is being used as an alternative route to replace the existing financial system when everyday financial infrastructure does not function properly.

Survey responses also reflected those features. One respondent in Venezuela rated Bitcoin as "faster, cleaner, and far less risky" than other ways to obtain dollars locally. A respondent in El Salvador said, "The fact that no one controls Bitcoin means we all control it."

A respondent in Nigeria pointed to Bitcoin's ability to be used across borders as an advantage. The respondent said that even when moving across six African countries, Bitcoin can be used, reducing the burden in terms of financial access.

Having experience holding Bitcoin did not necessarily mean having a high level of understanding of the related technology. Cornell University said many respondents had difficulty explaining the basic structure of the Bitcoin protocol during the survey. In particular, 58 percent of all respondents did not know that Bitcoin's supply is limited to 21 million.

By country, the reasons for adopting Bitcoin also differed. Venezuela saw Bitcoin use expand earlier than other countries as prolonged hyperinflation and strong government exchange-rate controls made it harder to secure dollars. With the local currency's value falling sharply, Bitcoin was used as an alternative means to preserve assets or access dollars.

El Salvador is a representative country that pushed Bitcoin adoption at an institutional level. The Salvadoran government adopted Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in 2021. Government officials also acknowledged that expanding actual use among citizens has not been as easy as expected, but the government continues to buy Bitcoin.

Nigeria is also considered one of the markets where Bitcoin trading is active. Some users have used Bitcoin as a savings tool to respond to the decline in the naira's value.

The survey was conducted in cooperation with the Tech Policy Institute under Cornell University's Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, the Cornell Bitcoin Club, the Human Rights Foundation and the Reynolds Foundation. Polling firm Morning Consult surveyed 25,880 people in 25 countries with 125 questions from Dec. 16, 2024, to March 10, 2025.

The report shows that Bitcoin adoption is difficult to explain solely by expectations of price gains. It said Bitcoin is being accepted as an alternative means for payments, saving and preserving assets, particularly in markets where trust in local currencies is low or access to existing financial systems such as banks and dollars is difficult.

Ultimately, it suggests that behind Bitcoin adoption lies not only expectations that prices will rise but also the reality that the existing financial system does not fully play its role. The analysis says in countries where gaps in financial infrastructure and currency instability persist, Bitcoin could take root as a real-world financial tool beyond a speculative asset.