One picture to understand: How is digital currency accepted around the world

Türkiye has the highest proportion of people using digital currency in the world, while Japan unexpectedly ranks last.

This week, the price of Bitcoin returned to $9,000. While risk-seeking investors have entered the market to increase their holdings, other investors are treating it as a safe-haven asset.

According to statistics from the research organization Statista, Turkey is the country with the highest proportion of people using digital currency in the world, with 20% of Turkish people in the sample saying they have used or are holding digital currency. Furthermore, the use of digital currency is high throughout Latin America, with Brazil and Colombia tied for second place.

Source: Statista, Chart: Wall Street Journal

Meanwhile, the popularity of digital currencies in developed countries is far lower than in the above countries. Bitcoin may have been created by a Japanese, but the use of digital currencies in Japan is definitely not popular - among the countries recorded, Japan has the lowest percentage of people using digital currencies, at only 3%.

The reason why Bitcoin is widely used in Latin America, Eastern Europe and other places may be closely related to the high instability of local financial markets. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that in some frontier markets - small and underdeveloped emerging market countries - the price of Bitcoin is usually higher than in other regions, and the problems faced by local currencies have given rise to the prosperity of the digital currency market.

Take Turkey as an example. The Turkish lira exchange rate has depreciated sharply again this year, by nearly 10%. As of the end of May, the country's economic confidence index fell sharply by 8.5% from the previous month, hitting the lowest level since the Turkish currency crisis eased in October last year, and the domestic inflation rate was close to 20%.

Changes in Türkiye's inflation rate

Last week, rating agency Moody's downgraded Turkey's sovereign credit rating to B1, with a negative outlook. In order to "save themselves" before the situation deteriorates further, the Turks have been stockpiling digital currencies to hedge risks, and digital currencies seem to be safer than any foreign currency.

In Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and other countries, the situation is similar to that in Turkey. The Argentine peso fell to a new low against the US dollar in April this year, and the plan to support the Argentine economy with funds from the IMF may also be scrapped at the end of this year.

As of now, the price of Bitcoin is $9,254.75, and the year-to-date increase has exceeded 140%. Unlike the last surge, this round of increase has seen a surge in exchange trading volume. It is also worth noting that Bitcoin is about to usher in a new round of supply halving in 2020, and many analysts predict that the price of Bitcoin may exceed $10,000 this year.