Chainalysis report: The global crypto market has cooled down—why has Western Europe held up?

Chainalysis’s 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Report found that Western Europe’s crypto economy reached $2.08 trillion in the 12 months through June 2026, up 1.2% year over year and second only to another region globally, even as the broader market contracted. The UK remained the largest market at $424.5 billion (20% of the regional total) despite an 8% decline driven by lower DEX volumes, while Germany fell to $288.8 billion, France was flat at $215.8 billion, and Spain ($156.1 billion) and Switzerland ($132.8 billion) grew on stronger CEX activity; the top six countries, including the Netherlands at $207.8 billion, account for roughly two-thirds of the region. Euro-denominated crypto trading rose to 11.8% of volumes across 33 fiat pairs, approaching the 14.5% baseline derived from the euro’s 28.9% share of global FX turnover, alongside the rollout of MiCA. Stablecoin holdings in Western European personal wallets surged 131% versus 52% globally, lifting the region’s share of global stablecoin holdings from 3.4% to 5.1%, with Austria and France leading. The report also links euro-area sovereign yield spreads over US Treasuries to euro-denominated bitcoin and tokenized gold trading, a pattern sharpened by French fiscal concerns after the 10-year yield topped 5.14% in October 2026. Watch next how the ECB’s pushback on MiCA reserve rules and the growth of compliant euro stablecoins reshape the region’s banking and payments landscape.