Sixteen of the countries in the top 20 could be classified

as emerging economies -- worth noting because the reasons and usages driving their higher rankings are quite different from those in established markets such as the U.S. The researchers found that countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Kenya ranked due to their massive person-to-person (P2P) transaction numbers (after wealth-per-capita and internet-use factors were applied). They also found that many residents in developing economies rely on P2P cryptocurrency exchanges because they lack access to any type of centralized exchange. The index also states that many developing markets have severe money devaluation, forcing residents to convert their fiat currencies into crypto to preserve value. Additionally, many of the emerging markets in the report restrict how much sovereign currency can be moved out of the country. Residents of those countries embrace crypto to get around limits on cross-border funds transfers.