United States Leads the World in Market-Based Digital-Asset Adoption, EWC Think Tank Finds in New Independent Research

A comparative assessment contrasts the U.S. private-market model with the European Union's regulatory-harmonization approach and China's state-controlled currency, and projects U.S. adult ownership rising to between 42% and 50% by 2035.

ATHENS, Greece, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new independent research note from the EWC Think Tank, the research division of EWC Investments, concludes that the United States holds a decisive and widening lead in market-based digital-asset adoption among the world's largest economies, distinguished by the integration of household participation with the institutions of public capital markets.

The note identifies three distinct jurisdictional approaches to the institutionalization of digital assets, reflecting divergent political-economic and, in the assessment of the EWC Think Tank, civilizational orientations toward the future of money. The United States advances a private-market model, the European Union a regulatory-harmonization model, and China a state-controlled currency model. While each is internally coherent, the three differ substantially in their capacity for international diffusion.

Key Findings

• United States: adult ownership of between 21% and 30% of the population, approximately 55 to 78 million holders, projected to reach 32% to 38% by 2030 and 42% to 50% by 2035 under the base case.
• Institutional layer: spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds holding approximately $96 billion in assets, a corporate-treasury cohort holding in excess of one million BTC, and a retirement and endowment channel reinforced by the U.S. Department of Labor's 2025 reversal of its earlier restrictive guidance.
• European Union: adult ownership rising from 4% in 2022 to 9% in 2024, with a base case of 16% to 22% by 2030 and 22% to 28% by 2035 under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
• China: a state-currency system in which the e-CNY has processed approximately $2.37 trillion in cumulative transaction value, alongside a categorical prohibition on mainland cryptocurrency trading, mining, and private stablecoin issuance, with Hong Kong serving as the regulated institutional interface.

The American Advantage

According to the research, the significance of the U.S. position resides less in the breadth of retail participation than in the depth of institutional embedding. Digital assets have been progressively incorporated into established financial infrastructure, including exchange-traded funds, corporate treasuries, regulated issuers, mining operations, stablecoin legislation, retirement allocation, and state-level reserve initiatives, a degree of integration the note describes as conferring a durability that speculative cycles alone cannot sustain.

"The depth of institutional embedding is what distinguishes the United States. Digital assets there are being absorbed into the ordinary machinery of public finance, from exchange-traded funds to corporate treasuries and retirement allocation, and that integration is what allows an asset class to mature into a financial system," said Nikolaos Kolettis, founder of EWC Investments and Head Researcher of the EWC Think Tank.

The European Union, by contrast, derives its strength from regulatory coherence. The instruments of the MiCA framework, together with DAC8 and CASP authorization and the prospective digital euro, establish a durable regulated perimeter, although the orientation remains predominantly administrative rather than oriented toward capital-market growth. China presents the most divergent case, combining the world's most consequential sovereign-currency program with one of its most restrictive postures toward private cryptocurrency activity, an arrangement in which the state substitutes for, rather than complements, market intermediation.

"Europe is constructing a regulated perimeter and China a sovereign digital currency, and both are consequential achievements," Kolettis added. "The American model is the one in which private initiative and public capital markets reinforce one another at scale, and for that reason it remains the most globally transmissive."

The research concludes that the three models are not directly commensurable. China leads in the scale of central-bank digital currency and the European Union in regulatory uniformity, while among major jurisdictions the United States leads in market-based adoption, the configuration the EWC Think Tank judges most likely to mature into a comprehensive financial system that is investable, liquid, and institutionally integrated.

Methodology and Independence

The conclusions draw on the EWC Think Tank's United States, European Union, and China research notes. EWC Investments is an independent research house and was not commissioned, compensated, or directed by any issuer, trading platform, asset manager, or government in the preparation of this analysis. Forecasts represent base-case estimates derived from stated assumptions and are subject to revision as conditions evolve.

About EWC Investments

EWC Investments is an independent digital-finance research house based in Athens, Greece, producing institutional-grade analysis of digital assets, market structure, portfolio strategy, and the long-term transformation of global financial markets. Its research division, the EWC Think Tank, is led by founder and Head Researcher Nikolaos Kolettis.

This release is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any asset. Statements regarding future developments are forward-looking and subject to uncertainty.

SOURCE EWC Investments Think Tank