According to data from Chainalysis, the United States is increasingly hoarding Bitcoin and became a net importer in 2026 for the first time since 2022. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is heavily purchasing dollar-backed stablecoins.
The findings come from the 2026 Geography of Crypto report, which covers the 12-month period leading up to July 1. Chainalysis attributes this diverging trend to differing regional needs, noting that Americans already possess ready access to traditional dollars, whereas users in other countries seek dollar exposure without needing a US bank account.
Diverging Index Scores and Institutional Flows
Chainalysis utilized an index combining on-chain service inflows, order book volume, and cross-border positions to measure Bitcoin activity. The US scored 0.96 in 2026 compared to 0.52 for the rest of the world, marking a lead of 0.44. In comparison, that lead stood at just 0.09 in 2024.
Conversely, the stablecoin index shows the opposite pattern. The rest of the world scored 1.00 while the US scored 0.56, creating a deficit that was only 0.05 in 2024.
Flow data indicates that retail users in the US are generally sending Bitcoin out, with transfers below $10,000 leaving the country on net. However, large institutional transfers above $10 million brought in a net total of 53,200 BTC, illustrating a dynamic where retail sends Bitcoin out while institutions bring it in.
BlackRock Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets Research Will Su told Chainalysis that investor interest in Bitcoin as a monetary alternative remains strong, particularly as global government debt and spending reach new highs.
Durability of the Trades
Chainalysis notes that Bitcoin accumulation relies heavily on institutional allocation decisions that can shift with market sentiment, whereas users who adopt digital dollars are unlikely to reverse their adoption.
Dollar-pegged tokens account for 99.1% of stablecoin volume on exchange order books, while euro-backed tokens hold only 0.45% despite the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.
Because stablecoin reserves are largely held in short-dated US government debt, overseas demand for digital dollars translates into direct demand for Treasuries. This pattern also appears in tokenized Treasury demand, where international jurisdictions such as Italy, Portugal, and Singapore each hold more value than US holders. Although Singapore and Hong Kong have introduced stablecoin licensing frameworks, Chainalysis observed that regulatory rules have advanced faster than user adoption.
