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A Cornell University study of 25,880 people across 25 countries found Bitcoin ownership highest in El Salvador, where 72% of respondents reported owning the cryptocurrency, followed by Venezuela and Nigeria.
The Cornell Bitcoin Adoption Index, conducted by Morning Consult between Dec. 16, 2024, and March 10, 2025, found that people in countries with unstable currencies and restricted banking access were far more likely to use Bitcoin as a practical financial tool than those in wealthier, stable economies.
The study was commissioned by Cornell University and developed in collaboration with the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy’s Institute for Technology Policy, the Cornell Bitcoin Club, the Human Rights Foundation and the Reynolds Foundation.
Rather than viewing Bitcoin exclusively as a speculative asset, the researchers found that people in financially constrained economies often turn to cryptocurrency to address everyday financial problems. Inflation, currency controls, restricted access to international payment systems and difficulties protecting savings were among the factors associated with higher ownership.
In Venezuela, one respondent described Bitcoin as “faster, cleaner, and less risky” than other methods of obtaining U.S. dollars.
The finding comes as Venezuela continues to contend with a heavily depreciated bolívar and an established informal dollar market. Separate data from TRM Labs showed Venezuela ranked 17th globally for retail crypto activity in the first quarter of 2026, with an estimated $17.9 billion in attributed transaction volume.
Stablecoins, however, appear to play a larger role in Venezuela’s current cryptocurrency market than Bitcoin alone. TRM reported that USDT represented 90.2% of active Binance peer-to-peer listings involving the Venezuelan bolívar in April. The firm attributed the activity to bolívar depreciation, capital controls, restricted banking access and the country’s long-standing informal currency markets.
Nigeria also featured prominently in Cornell’s findings. One Nigerian respondent said Bitcoin had made cross-border travel easier by providing an alternative way to access funds.
“I’ve visited six African countries and felt no worries because I knew I could spend Bitcoin,” the respondent said.
The study also identified differences among ownership groups. Men were more likely than women to report owning Bitcoin in every country surveyed, while respondents aged 30 to 44 were the most consistent owners across the sample.
Income patterns were less intuitive. In 23 of the 25 countries surveyed, respondents with lower incomes recorded the highest ownership rates. People with more formal education reported higher ownership in every market except Lebanon.
El Salvador’s position at the top of the Cornell ranking reflects its unusually strong government backing for Bitcoin adoption.
The country made Bitcoin legal tender in September 2021 and launched the Chivo wallet, accompanied by a $30 Bitcoin incentive for users. The policy made El Salvador the first country to formally adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
An El Salvadoran respondent surveyed by Cornell expressed one argument behind support for the cryptocurrency, saying, “no one controls Bitcoin, which means we all own it.”
However, ownership should not be confused with regular use.
Cornell’s research measures whether respondents had ever owned Bitcoin. It does not establish whether they currently use the cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services. That distinction is significant in El Salvador, where surveys have shown that routine Bitcoin transactions have remained relatively limited despite the government’s earlier efforts to encourage adoption.
A report cited declining Bitcoin payments in El Zonte, the coastal community associated with Bitcoin Beach. Bitcoin Core contributor Jon Atack said one restaurant received its first Bitcoin payment of the month when he paid for lunch, while emphasizing that the experience was anecdotal and should not be interpreted as evidence of nationwide usage.
A Universidad Centroamericana survey found that 8.1% of Salvadorans used Bitcoin to purchase goods or make payments in 2024. That represented a substantial decline from 25.7% in 2021, 21% in 2022 and 12% in 2023. A separate survey by Universidad Francisco Gavidia put the proportion of Salvadorans using Bitcoin for transactions in 2024 at 7.5%.
Those findings do not necessarily contradict Cornell’s ownership figures. Someone who previously purchased Bitcoin or received the Chivo incentive would still be classified as having owned the cryptocurrency, even if they no longer used it.
The Cornell index found that former Bitcoin owners outnumbered current owners in 18 of the 25 countries surveyed.
El Salvador has also modified its Bitcoin framework since its initial 2021 rollout. In February 2025, the country reached a 40-month, $1.4 billion financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Under the revised framework, businesses can decide whether to accept Bitcoin, taxes must be paid in U.S. dollars, and the government no longer guarantees conversion between Bitcoin and the dollar.
High ownership levels did not necessarily translate into strong knowledge of how Bitcoin works.
Cornell found that 58% of respondents across the surveyed countries did not know that Bitcoin’s total supply is capped at 21 million coins. The finding highlights a significant gap between exposure to the cryptocurrency and understanding of one of its defining characteristics.
The United States showed a similar divide. About 85% of U.S. respondents said they had heard of Bitcoin, while 38% considered themselves knowledgeable about the cryptocurrency. Yet only 6% knew that its maximum supply is limited to 21 million coins.
At the same time, 24% of U.S. respondents said they had owned Bitcoin at some point.
The contrast illustrates how Bitcoin adoption can develop for very different reasons depending on the financial environment. In El Salvador, Venezuela and Nigeria, Cornell linked ownership to financial pressures and practical needs. U.S. consumers, by comparison, have access to regulated cryptocurrency exchanges, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and established dollar-based financial services.
Trust also remained an issue. Across the 25 countries, respondents gave Bitcoin an average trust score of 4.67 out of 10. Gold, real estate and national currencies generally received higher levels of trust, while 45% of participants considered Bitcoin to carry a level of risk comparable to stocks.
The relationship between institutional distrust and Bitcoin ownership was particularly notable. In 22 of the 25 countries, respondents who distrusted their governments were more likely to own Bitcoin. Distrust of financial institutions was associated with higher ownership in 16 countries.
Japan presented a sharp contrast to the countries leading the Bitcoin ownership rankings. Some 88% of Japanese respondents said they had never owned Bitcoin, while only 7% reported current ownership. Cornell placed Japan among stable, high-income economies where established payment infrastructure and access to conventional financial products may reduce the practical need for cryptocurrency alternatives.
The U.S. results offer another perspective on Bitcoin adoption, separating participation in the market from understanding of the asset’s underlying design.
Nearly one in four American respondents reported having owned Bitcoin, but only a small minority knew about its 21 million-coin supply limit. The figures suggest that familiarity and market participation can grow without a corresponding understanding of Bitcoin’s technical characteristics.
The findings also distinguish consumer ownership from government-level cryptocurrency policy. A June 2025 survey cited in a Bitcoin reserve report found that only 3% of participating central banks expected to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve within the following decade. About 10% said they planned to increase exposure to digital assets, with most interest focused on tokenized securities rather than cryptocurrencies.
Cornell’s research extends beyond the survey itself. The project received $1 million to examine how people living under authoritarian governments use Bitcoin and stablecoins in pursuit of financial security. Researchers also conducted roughly 250 interviews with users, including business owners, remittance senders and political activists.
Taken together, the findings suggest that Bitcoin adoption is shaped not only by perceptions of cryptocurrency as an investment but also by the financial conditions in which people live. Where conventional banking systems, currencies and international payment channels are viewed as unreliable or inaccessible, Bitcoin can take on a more practical role.
The Cornell study therefore presents a more complicated picture of Bitcoin adoption than ownership figures alone might suggest. High rates of past ownership do not necessarily indicate frequent transactions, while growing participation does not automatically mean users understand the cryptocurrency’s monetary design.
For El Salvador, Venezuela and Nigeria, the findings point to economic circumstances as an important factor behind Bitcoin’s appeal. In wealthier and more financially stable markets such as Japan, the incentive to use Bitcoin as an alternative financial rail appears considerably weaker.
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