Latin America experienced a cryptocurrency boom this year, with Brazil leading the pack in terms of digital asset ownership.

Not only is Brazil the richest country in Latin America, but it also ranks as the largest and, in turn, has one of the biggest cryptocurrency markets in the world, trading 100,000 BTC on a daily basis.

Despite the dismissal of Bitcoin from Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro who once declared “I don’t know what Bitcoin is”, the country has gone crypto-mad with both individuals and institutions widely accepting the market trading and impact it could have on the economy.

Demonstrating the approval of cryptocurrencies in the nation, the Central Bank of Brazil (CBC) officially recognised Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as legal monetary assets this year.

To go a step further, a bill to use cryptocurrency as a form of payment for workers in both public and private sectors was put before parliament in November and remains under consideration. If accepted, it would spark a new era for the Brazilian economy.

Bitcoin is undoubtedly the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency in Brazil with 5% of the nation owning the crypto, which is in excess of 10 million people.

A staggering 92% of Brazilian crypto users are male, while regardless of gender, 40% of crypto holders are 20 to 25 years old. The other age groups of 26-30 and 31-40 respectively represent 20%.

The nation also ranks ahead of Colombia (7.7%), Mexico (5.9%), and Argentina (4%) in regards to cryptocurrency-active owners and according to a CoinDesk report quoting Portal Du Bitcoin, Brazilians acquired cryptocurrencies worth $4.27 billion in 2021.

Brazil’s trust and acceptance of cryptocurrency in 2021 had grown drastically over the last three years with $4.3 billion being invested in the industry from January to August 2021.

That figure is compared to $1.7 billion in the same period in both 2019 and 2020.

The volume invested in 2021 represents 36.8% percent of the total stock already historically allocated by Brazilians in crypto assets, which adds up to $11.7 billion since 2016.

The increasing embrace of crypto had also benefitted the likes of Mercado Bitcoin, one of Brazil’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, whose parent company – 2TM – raised $50m on top of the $200m already raised this past summer in an aim to further build its operations in Latin America.

Brazil had already planted its roots at the forefront of economic freedom in Latin America and it’ll be interesting to see where they next look to conquer in 2022.