Turkey tops the world in stablecoin buying share vs. GDP

Stablecoin purchases in Turkey amount to 4.3% of GDP, the highest among global economies, according to Chainalysis.

The United States may lead the world in stablecoin transaction volumes, but its share of stablecoin purchases relative to its gross domestic product (GDP) has been eclipsed by Turkey.

According to “The 2024 Crypto Spring Report,” released on April 25 by the blockchain intelligence

firm Chainalysis, Turkey has the highest share of stablecoin purchases relative to its GDP.

Based on Chainalysis’ data, stablecoin buying in Turkey accounted for 4.3% of its GDP between April 2023 and March 2024, making it the world’s biggest spender of stablecoins relative to its GDP.

Turkey’s GDP was $907 billion as of 2022, and total stablecoin purchases were $38 billion, Chainalysis director of research Kim Grauer told Cointelegraph.

She added that such purchases included any swap between the Turkish lira and a stablecoin in either direction. She stated:

“This is an aggregate figure of transfers of the Turkish lira to stablecoins and stablecoins to the lira, that stablecoin activity does not impact the GDP;

rather, we expressed the stablecoin activity as a percentage of GDP in order to provide context for readers.”

The size of the stablecoin market in the Turkish economy stands out from other economies analyzed by Chainalysis.

According to the report, stablecoin purchases in Thailand and Georgia accounted for 1.3% and 0.7% over the same period, respectively.

Ranked fourth, the U.S. has a 0.5% share of stablecoin buying from its GDP, while the European Union follows with a share of 0.3%.