Data: US Crypto Economy Shrinks as Canada’s Market Expands in 2026

Figures shared by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis show that Canada’s crypto economy jumped more than 2% in the year to June 2026. At the same time, the US economy contracted by an almost similar percentage, with the divergence coming at a time when Canadian traders are moving more toward stablecoins, and dollar-pegged tokens making up a larger portion of order-book volume than assets bought primarily to store value. In its post, Chainalysis reported that the global crypto economy shrank 1.6% during the same period. Canada moved in the opposite direction, with the firm describing it as the second-largest country in its “big money index” and ranking it 10th among 117 countries in its grassroots adoption index. According to the firm, Canada’s share of that market grew 2.3% to $247.7 billion, while the US’s dropped by 2.2%. Everyday use appears to be part of the Canadian picture. Chainalysis described the country as having the strongest peer-to-peer crypto economy in the Group of Seven, although the figures shared did not provide a transaction total for that activity. The composition of Canadian trading has also changed. Stablecoins accounted for 44% of crypto order-book volume in June 2026, up from 30% a year earlier, according to a separate Chainalysis post. That put them ahead of store-of-value assets, which accounted for 29%. USDC dominated the stablecoin category, the firm added. Smart contract layer-1 assets made up 17% of the tracked volume, while payment-focused cryptocurrencies accounted for 8%. Meme coins, layer-2 tokens and other assets together represented the remaining 2%. The Canadian figures come amid a broader geographic split in crypto activity, with Chainalysis finding that the US had become a net importer of Bitcoin in 2026 for the first time since 2022, while dollar-backed stablecoins continued to flow abroad. “Stablecoins let users hold dollars without having a US bank account. US users generally have easier access to dollar banking, making that benefit less pressing at home,” it explained. The report found that transfers below $10,000 remained net outbound from the US, while larger transactions moved in the opposite direction. Transfers worth more than $10 million accounted for 53,200 BTC flowing into the country. Chainalysis also reported that 99.1% of global stablecoin order-book volume was tied to the US dollar. Its figures for tokenized real-world assets provide further context, with the market growing 135% to $36.07 billion in the period ending in the second quarter of 2026, and tokenized US Treasuries reaching $15.42 billion. The post

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