Emerging Market Crypto Adoption

The Daily Crypto Update for Institutional Investors

On Binance, USDt trading volume against the Brazilian real (BRL) outpaced BTC trading by nearly three times, continuing a trend in emerging markets we have previously observed - We describe emerging market adoption in this AM’s note

Over the past year, USDt/BRL saw an aggregate volume of USDt 13.66B; this is compared to USDt 4.79B in trading volume by BTC/BRL. This pattern reflects that USDt trades against emerging market fiat currencies on Binance at multiples of the volumes seen in BTC pairs. For instance, USDt trading against the Argentine peso (ARS) saw USDt 628.44M in volume over the past year, compared to USDt 39.00M recorded by BTC/ARS. Continuing an additional historic pattern, in Brazil and Argentina, Google searches for ‘usdt’ outpaced those ‘usdc’ by ~5 to 1 and ~7 to 1, respectively.

In March of last year, we pointed out Google searches for ‘usdt’ in Turkey reached a nearly two year high as lira (TRY) reached a record low. In 2024, according to data from Chainalysys, ‘stablecoin trading volumes on [centralized exchanges were] equal to 4% of GDP in dollar equivalent terms’ in Turkey. At the time, we noted that TRY/USDt volumes outpace those from BTC/TRY by ~10 to 1. In Turkey, we also pointed out the popularity of speculative trading involving riskier crypto assets; in March 2025, ‘[c]umulative trading volume for XRP/TRY over the past year, USDt 5.12B, was larger than BTC/TRY.’ Google search interest in Turkey for USDt is roughly ~25x higher than for USDC over the past year.

Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey are the 11th, 25th, and 16th largest economies by GDP. Against varying time horizons, these countries’ currencies have significantly depreciated against the US dollar. Crypto proponents have viewed such jurisdictions as hotbeds for crypto uptake. Crypto markets offer residents access to US dollar stablecoin–denominated financial services, tokenized assets like gold, and peer-to-peer payments. data suggest that emerging markets do in fact lead digital asset adoption; according to Chainalysis, the top ten countries in terms of crypto adoption in 2025 are: India, United States, Pakistan, Vietnam, Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ukraine, Philippines, Russian Federation. These nations have seen significant depreciation of local currencies against the US dollar.

Takeaway: The data described in this note suggests that crypto proponents’ view that emerging markets will be a driver of crypto adoption is playing out in practice. Many of the nations described in this note are quintessential adopters of crypto: acute economic conditions including aggressive currency debasement, political instability and disputed rule of law, paired with a tech savvy and relatively youthful population. The data also confirms that historical patterns of stablecoin purchases outpacing BTC have continued in 2025. It is likely that US dollar stablecoins’ relative strength to local currencies is attractive, while BTC’s volatility makes shorter-term saving more difficult.

CRYPTO HEADLINES

• Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) acquired 22,305 BTC for USD 2.13B last week, increasing its holdings to 709,715 BTC purchased for nearly USD 54B. The acquisition was funded through USD 1.8B in common stock sales and USD 294.3M of perpetual preferred equity Stretch (STRC). - link - @Saylor

• The Government of Bermuda announced plans to transform its economy using on-chain infrastructure, partnering with Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Circle to integrate digital payments and financial tools nationwide. The initiative features USDC, aims at cost savings, and expands digital finance education. - link - @TheBlock

• Argentina-based Pomelo raised USD 55M in a Series C round co-led by Kaszek and Insight Partners to expand its payment offerings in Latin America and globally. Funds will support a global stablecoin-denominated credit card, real-time agentic payments, and credit processing in Mexico and Brazil. - link - @Bloomberg

• Portugal’s gambling regulator ordered Polymarket to halt operations and blocked the platform after more than USD 4.3M was reportedly bet on election markets before official results. Authorities stated Polymarket was not licensed and political betting is prohibited in Portugal. The move follows similar regulatory actions in France, Germany, Hungary, and the US. - link - @TheBlock

• SOL Strategies (CNSX: HODL) launched the STKESOL liquid staking token backed by over 500,000 SOL. The product distributes users’ staked SOL across multiple validators using an automated model and generates revenue through fees and staking rewards. STKESOL is offered on several Solana decentralized platforms. - link - @TheBlock

• Paradex, an on chain derivatives venue built on Starknet, experienced a platform-wide outage impacting trading and infrastructure. The team began rollback and recovery, cancelling most open orders except take-profit/stop-loss. User funds are reported to be safe, with vault withdrawals re-enabled, but some services remain paused. - link - @Cointelegraph

• Pendle is launching sPENDLE, a liquid token allowing users to access funds while earning protocol rewards. sPENDLE, which is intended to replace vePENDLE’s multi-year lockups, features a 14-day withdrawal period and can be freely traded or used in decentralized finance applications. The new model aims to increase capital efficiency and simplify user participation. - link - @CoinDesk

• Ethereum-based DeFi project Makina Finance was exploited for USD ~5M from a stablecoin pool following a smart contract attack involving a 280M USDC flash loan and oracle manipulation. CertiK, GoPlus, and PeckShield each estimated varying losses. Makina Finance has not formally confirmed the incident. - link - @TheBlock

TOP ARTICLES

• Bloomberg: Wall Street’s Calm Shattered by Greenland and Japan Shocks

• Barron’s: Bitcoin Tests $91,000 as Geopolitics Continues to Bruise Crypto

OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH / LONG-READ OF THE DAY

Trump Family’s $6.8 Billion Fortune Is Increasingly Tied to Crypto, Bloomberg, January 20, 2026

• Bloomberg reports on the Trump family’s crypto interests.

CRYPTO MULTIMEDIA

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on crypto regulation: Banks should compete on a level playing field, CNBC, January 20, 2026

• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong discusses crypto regulation from Davos, Switzerland.

CHART OF THE DAY

In 2025, USDt/BRL volumes heavily outpaced those from the BTC/BRL pair on Binance.

About FRNT Financial

FRNT is a digital asset investment bank offering capital markets and advisory services to institutional investors participating in or entering the space. The Company aims to bridge the worlds of traditional and web-based finances with a technology forward and compliant operation. Business lines include deliverable trading services, structured derivative products, merchant banking, advisory, consulting, lending origination and principal investments. Headquartered in Toronto, FRNT was co-founded in 2018 by CEO Stéphane Ouellette.