Western Europe crypto activity reaches $2.08 trillion

A November 9 report by the blockchain analytics firm said Western Europe was the world’s second-largest regional crypto economy and one of only three regions to post growth during the period, alongside Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

The UK recorded $424.5 billion in crypto activity, down 8%, a fall Chainalysis largely attributed to lower decentralized exchange trading. Germany followed with $288.8 billion, France with $215.8 billion, the Netherlands with $207.8 billion, Spain with $156.1 billion and Switzerland with $132.8 billion. Together, the six markets accounted for roughly two-thirds of regional activity.

Stablecoin balances in Western European personal wallets grew far faster than the global rate of 52%. The region’s share of worldwide balances increased from 3.4% to 5.1%, with particularly strong growth in Austria and France. The rise coincides with financial institutions developing regulated stablecoin products under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). In October, the European Banking Authority classified Circle’s USDC as the first significant electronic money token under MiCA, bringing specified reserve and redemption safeguards under its direct supervision from November 12. The Qivalis banking consortium also received authorization in October to operate as an electronic money institution in the Netherlands; its proposed euro stablecoin was not yet circulating.

Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell told Chainalysis that regulated euro stablecoins could serve “as the on-chain cash leg for tokenised assets” and support programmable business payments. In the UK, domestic stablecoin transfers rose from $109 million to $2.09 billion. That was 60% of the region’s domestic transfer value and exceeded the $1.41 billion recorded across the rest of Western Europe combined. Chainalysis measured UK domestic transfers at 1.32 times cross-border activity, while other markets relied more heavily on international transfers. About 1.03% of eligible UK retail wallets converted at least 80% of their crypto holdings into stablecoins, up from 0.66% a year earlier.

French personal wallets holding stablecoins increased from 3,577 in June 2025 to 12,255 in June 2026, while balances rose 192%. Stablecoins made up 54.2% of French withdrawals from centralized exchanges, the highest share among the major markets examined. In Spain, cross-border inflows from Western Europe rose 79.1%, compared with 24.6% growth in the country’s overall crypto economy. Inflows from Italy and Portugal grew 329% and 751%, respectively. Bit2Me executive Gabriel Ayala linked part of the trend to fragmented exchange markets in neighboring countries, citing regulatory complexity in Italy.