- North America continues to be the largest cryptocurrency market in the world despite the regulatory crackdown by U.S. authorities, which has seen multiple enforcement actions brought against some of the largest players in the space in 2023, including lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase.
While its retail segment is one of the most active in the world, the North American crypto market “is more driven by institutional activity than any other region with a whopping 76.9% of transaction volume driven by transfers of $1 million or more,” they said. “The region’s on-chain activity is split relatively evenly between DeFi and centralized exchanges.
“While the shift away from stablecoins was already underway before the banking failures in March, it’s possible that investor concerns over stablecoins following that incident have played a role in its continuation,” Chainalysis said. “Relatedly, stablecoin market capitalization sank to its lowest point in over two years this past summer.”
“Stablecoin regulation also gives regulators a chance to help ensure that the U.S. is home to the cryptocurrency businesses that will play a big role in expanding how the U.S. dollar is used globally as the digital economy continues to grow,” they added. “However, data suggests that more and more stablecoin activity is occurring through entities that aren’t licensed in the United States.
Chainalysis said the real challenge for policymakers when it comes to passing stablecoin legislation “will be to strike the right balance between keeping consumers safe and creating a framework that allows crypto markets to continue growing and encourages innovation. Time is also of the essence.”