Grayscale It is estimated that the United States accounts for about 15% to 20% of global crypto activities, and it is believed that the adoption of cryptocurrencies will continue to progress regardless of the results of next week's mid-term elections.
- Grayscale estimates that the United States accounts for 36% of the Bitcoin computing power and 31% of the total nodes in Ethereum.
- The proportion of the United States in terms of payments, transactions, and wallet usage is lower than that related to mining and network infrastructure indicators.
- This estimate is based on 14 indicators, and the reporting cycles and geographical coverage of these indicators vary.
- Mining research from the University of Cambridge provides another comparison, in which American companies account for a relatively high proportion in their survey sample.
Grayscale released this report on October 28th. The study leader, Zach Pandl, included these data as part of their argument in the report, which is that the growth of the crypto industry is not limited to American politics. The attached chart summarizes various indicators such as infrastructure, transactions, holdings, and user activity.
Grayscale has found that the United States holds the highest proportion in the infrastructure of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Bitcoin mining tops the list, with the United States estimated to account for 36% of the global computing power. Ethereum full nodes follow closely behind at 31%, while the United States accounts for 26% of the value of transactions on the chain.
Payment activities fall below these infrastructure indicators. The chart shows that the United States accounts for 24% of the value of stablecoin payments, 22% of merchant payment transactions, and developers account for 21%.
Looking further down, Solana accounts for 17% in collateral, cross-border transactions account for 16%, and spot trading volume accounts for 15%. Visitors to the protocol website account for 14%.
The lowest proportion is for indicators related to holding and access. According to the chart, those who hold crypto assets, those who hold stablecoins, and visitors to exchange websites all account for 13%, while mobile wallet users make up 12%.
Among the various categories displayed in the chart, the United States accounts for between 12% and 36%, with a difference of 24 percentage points. According to the rounded figures in the chart, the computing power of Bitcoin is three times that of mobile wallet users.
15% to 20% of the estimates incorporate various indicators.
The chart footnote explains how Grayscale arrived at this title-based interval. The median percentage of its indicators in the United States is 16%, with an average of 19%, and based on this, the company supports an estimate of around 15% to 20%.
These basic data cover the period from 2023 to 2026, depending on the specific indicators, and are summarized in October 2026. They do not all refer to the same reporting period.
The geographical coverage also varies. The estimates for those holding crypto assets and stablecoins cover North America, while the data on stablecoin holders is only applicable to Phantom Wallet. The number of merchant payments comes solely from CoinGate.
The sources mentioned in the text include a16z, Forbes, Triple-A, Phantom, Kaiko, the Bank for International Settlements, Solana, Electric Capital, CoinGate, McKinsey/ Artemis, Chainalysis, TRM Labs, the University of Cambridge, and Hashrate Index.
Therefore, Grayscale describes this range as an approximate value across multiple indicators. The chart covers transaction value, number of payments, estimated holding volume, and infrastructure indicators, each with its own specified coverage range.
The mining survey in Cambridge measures different samples.
An independent study published by the University of Cambridge in 2025 showed that among the mining activities surveyed, 75.4% were located in the United States and 7.1% were located in Canada.
The survey covered 49 mining companies that operate in 23 countries. The participants accounted for approximately 48% of the computing power of the Bitcoin network at that time.
Cambridge reminds that the strong involvement of American companies is likely to have inflated the proportion of the United States. The figure of 75.4% describes the activities captured by the survey, and does not imply that the US controls 75.4% of all Bitcoin mining.
However, researchers still identify North America as the main location for the surveyed businesses. At the same time, they have observed emerging activities in South America and the Middle East, as well as ongoing mining activities in Northern Europe.
U.S. crypto policies continue to advance ahead of the elections
In the view of Pandl, both parties' holding of crypto assets and the participation of institutions support the continuation of this progress. He mentioned polls regarding the use of crypto by Republicans and Democrats, the support of both parties for legislation, as well as the work of financial institutions in stablecoins, tokenized funds, and exchange-traded products.
Before the voting, the rule-making process in Washington continued. As previously reported by crypto.news, OCC finalized the rules on October 21st based on the GENIUS legislation, which cover aspects such as reserves, redemptions, risk management, and regulation, with the effective date set for January 18, 2027.
Another set of proposals released by the Federal Reserve on September 24th relates to reserve support, as well as applications from insured state member banks to issue stablecoins through subsidiaries.
Market structure legislation faces different timetables. Previous reports regarding the mid-term elections indicated that on September 15th, the Senate voted 49 to 50 in favor of moving the CLARITY bill into debate. This vote was about whether to begin deliberations on the bill, not its final passage.
