The United Arab Emirates has the highest rate of cryptocurrency ownership globally

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the largest holdings of cryptocurrencies in the world, with the country's government considered very friendly to crypto assets, according to visualcapitalist.com, which cites data from Triple-A - a crypto payment gateway - for 2023.

According to the quoted source, in the UAE there is a cryptocurrency ownership rate of over 30% among the population, i.e. three million holders.

Crypto Wealth 2023 Report by Henley & Partners. notes: "In the United Arab Emirates, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA-ADGM) was the first to issue rules and regulations regarding the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. The Emirates are generally very open to new technologies and have proposed zero taxes for cryptocurrency holders and businesses in the field."

Next, in second place in the mentioned ranking, is Vietnam, with a holding rate of 21.2%, respectively 21 million inhabitants who have crypto assets. According to the Crypto Council for Innovation, cryptocurrency holdings in Vietnam are tax-free, making them an attractive asset. Another reason for the high rates of crypto holdings in Vietnam appears to be the large unbanked population (people without access to financial services). Cryptocurrencies can provide an alternative way to access these services without the need for traditional banks.

On the third place in the list made by Triple-A we find the USA - with a ownership rate of 15.6%, i.e. 53 million owners, followed by Iran - with 13.5% (12 million), the Philippines - by 13.4% (16 million), Brazil - by 12% (26 million), Saudi Arabia - by 11.4% (4 million), Singapore - by 11.1% (665,000), Ukraine - by 10, 6% (4 million) and Venezuela - with 10.3% (3 million).

According to visualcapitalist.com, if the countries were included in the ranking by the number of owners of crypto assets, India would be in the first place, with 93 million, China - in the second place, with 59 million, and the USA in the place third, with 53 million.

• Cryptocurrency platform at Deutsche Börse

German stock exchange operator Deutsche Börse launched a regulated cryptocurrency trading platform for institutional investors in March, according to Reuters.

Deutsche Börse had announced the plan in this regard last year, and in February 2024 it obtained additional authorizations from the German regulatory authorities.

Last month, German state bank Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW) announced a partnership with crypto firm Bitpanda, under which it will offer cryptocurrency-related services to its corporate clients. Initially, the partnership involves custody and trading of Bitcoin, ETH and other digital assets. The collaboration would begin with a custodial pilot program in the second half of 2024, according to ledgerinsights.com.

As part of the agreement, Bitpanda will provide LBBW with an "investing-as-a-service" infrastructure.

"Demand from our corporate clients for digital assets is increasing," said Dr. Jurgen Harengel, COO Corporate Bank of LBBW, adding: "We are convinced that crypto assets will establish themselves as a basic element for future business models. Through cooperation, we create the technical and regulatory foundations at an early stage to best support the individual crypto strategies of our corporate clients."

Bitpanda also has as clients the Austrian community bank Raiffeisenlandesbank NÖ-Wien and the German neo-bank N26.

Many of Germany's largest banks have announced plans for custody and trading of cryptocurrencies. Deutsche Bank has partnered with Taurus. Commerzbank obtained a crypto custody license from BaFin at the end of last year. DZ Bank is also preparing a crypto solution for the 737 members of the community bank Raiffeisenbank.

The competition in this regard is not only from banks, with Deutsche Börse launching its DBDX crypto trading solution. Its subsidiary, Crypto Finance, provides settlement and custody. Börse Stuttgart has been offering crypto retail services and also institutional custody for years.